Bev, John and Don Poulton of Kapiti Farm Dannevirke. Absent: Marina Poulton.
For John and Marina Poulton and John's parents Rod and Bev, their focus on the environment at their Dannevirke farm has won them the Beef+Lamb New Zealand Livestock award at the Horizons Ballance Farm Environment awards.
The Poulton's property, Kapiti Farm east of Dannevirke, is a 600 stock unit cattle
finishing and sheep breeding and finishing operation which the judges described as "a well-run business closely aligned to consideration of the environment" with "healthy grasses, crops and stock".
Three years ago the family restructured their involvement in Kapiti Farm and now the 480-hectare (effective) property is operated wholly by John and Marina while the land ownership is shared between the couple and Rod and Bev.
Last spring John and Marina and their three girls moved off the farm, allowing John to concentrate on his bachelor of agricultural commerce degree studies.
Alistair Macpherson took on the role of operations manager. He is responsible for the day-to-day running of the farm.
