Four of the five finalists in the 2024 Bay of Plenty Ballance Environmental Farm Awards are from the wider Te Puke area. This week we showcase the second pair of farms that will be up for the various awards tomorrow.
Mangorewa Farms
Relationships, resilience and revitalisation provide the foundation for this successful Te Ranga dairy farm that has been owned by the Winters family since 1992.
Current owners Murray and Cecilia Winters have owned it since 2019 after working their way up through sharemilking. Today, they operate the 140ha dairy farm in partnership with sharemilkers Chris and Karly Deed, running up to 350 cows.
Cecilia puts their success partly down to the successful working relationship between the partners — based on shared values and a family-focused philosophy.
Resilience is another key trait that has guided their journey as they strive to increase production while reducing environmental impacts such as emissions, soil damage and the leaching of nutrients and sediment.
In recent years, Cecilia and Murray have started planting native trees on the property and retiring steep terrain. The judges were impressed with the revitalisation of the farm’s biodiversity, plus the couple’s pest control work both at home and in the wider community. The property has become a haven for native birds including kōkako and kiwi, and boasts a high number of sightings of the threatened pekapeka (long-tailed bat).
The couple have optimised their farming system to suit the area, based on years of knowledge about the local climate. This is strengthened by good cropping practices such as direct drilling, one-pass tillage, using contingency paddocks in bad weather and careful paddock selection to rotate and improve pastures.
The beautiful natural setting, easy contour and native bush bordering the south of the property mean this dairy farm is more than a business for Cecilia and Murray. They genuinely love living on the property and describe it as a wonderful place to raise a family. As they start to think about retirement and succession planning, they can’t imagine a better place to live.
Blair Linton, Linda Ellison and Robert Linton of Te Ranga Farms.
Te Ranga Farms
The family behind Te Ranga Farms is focused on optimising the farming system while protecting and enhancing its natural beauty and freshwater.
The 296ha (176ha effective) farm has been in the Linton family since 1973.
Since the early 1980s, it has been owned and managed by Robert Linton and Linda Ellison. Since 2022, their son Blair Linton has leased the property, continuing the same farming system.
The team is currently rearing just over 500 Friesian bull calves on the Te Puke property. They farm 480 of the bulls for one winter and sell the surplus as weaners. The judges were impressed with the farming system which has been optimised over time to match land use and class. Animal numbers and stock types are carefully managed to match the pasture growth curve.
Decisions are driven by data from a wide range of sources, ensuring the family has a complete picture of the farm. Supporting this is a strict adherence to clear, measurable key performance indicators around such things as calf weight and feeding plans.
As well as having long-term knowledge of Te Ranga Farms, the family stays up to date with the latest agricultural policies which further inform their decision-making. When it comes to the environment, protecting freshwater is a high priority.
The family’s approach aligns with that of the wider catchment – reflecting their active involvement in the Paraiti catchment group. The farm’s critical water source areas are being actively identified and managed.
The property’s biodiversity has been enhanced by retiring and protecting a total of 115ha. As fourth-generation farmers, Linda, Robert and Blair are committed to both the farm and its surrounding community. They hope to continue their family’s positive contribution to the area by sustainably managing Te Ranga Farms into the future.
