The farm's location between the lakes means that the Fords have to carefully consider the environmental impact of their farming.
Layers of Rotomahana mud, Kaharoa ash and Taupo pumice mean the soil has high phosphate levels, so the Fords have constructed about 200 detention dams throughout the farm to collect sediment.
Lake Tarawera is deficient in phosphate, and high runoff levels could lead to a dangerous algal bloom, Mr Ford said.
It is this kind of diligent farming that has so impressed the Ballance judges and which was on display at the farm's Supreme Winner's Field Day on March 31.
The day was an opportunity for others to hear about the methods used by the Fords to run a successful farm, including their detailed soil testing procedures.
"We monitor as much as we can, and you just build on that data how to do things slightly better," Mr Ford said.
Mrs Ford praised the ethos of farm field days.
"It's really important ... that you show the rest of the community that there are ways of doing these things," she said.
"That's what the Ballance awards were all about, passing on knowledge and learning something from it."
Highlands Station is in the top 5 per cent of New Zealand drystock farms, which Mrs Ford puts down to the incredible efforts of the farm's staff .
"It's all down to them."
The farm has just had its best year running bull beef. Mr Ford thinks that, if managed correctly, the bulls have less impact on the land and nitrogen leaching.
"A lot of people don't want to run bull beef because it's challenging. It takes a certain system, or mentality, to take it on," he said.
Speaking to the Fords, it becomes clear that such a conscientious approach to farming is very much a family trait.
One of the most striking things about Highlands Station is that 20 to 25 per cent of the farm is retired bush that is protected under the QEII National Trust.
On a 1240ha farm, that's a lot of land.
Mr Ford said the decision about this bush dated back to when the land was bought by his family. "I suppose it's an emotional thing. My grandfather Harry Ford made most of his money harvesting trees up at the Mamakus, and he felt like he'd spent his whole life destroying the forest, and didn't want to destroy any more.
"When he helped my father come here in 1931, he didn't want him to knock down any of the bush that was on the farm. So the bush that was here when my father came is still here."
It's a substantial investment to make on land that will never be developed - the Fords estimate $10,000 a year for fencing maintenance - but it's worth it, for sentimental and practical reasons.
"After all, it keeps our stock out," Mr Ford said.
The Fords' major complaints are the same as every New Zealand farmer - the possums, the stoats, the weasels - but they are more than happy with their lot.
"It's hard to imagine finding a better spot ... we're so close to Rotorua, and yet we have almost complete privacy. The only noises we have to put up with are our dogs."
If it ever did get a bit too quiet at Highlands Station, you could forgive the Fords a trumpet blast or two.
