| 41 Awards a chance to showcase ‘the good things’ James and Tanya Goodwin. Richard Loader When Southland sheep farmers James and Tanya Goodwin attended last year’s Southland Ballance Farm Environment awards as supporters, they loosely commented that at some stage they would like to give it a crack. That comment was overheard by one of the event organisers, who paid James and on-farm visit, and applied some gentle persuasion – or as James puts it, wouldn’t leave until the dotted line was signed. That all paid off, and this year the Goodwins won the regional Norwood Farm Efficiency award. “I’ve always seen the Ballance Awards as a great platform to showcase a lot of good things that people are doing on farm,” says James. “Going through the awards’ process enabled us to benchmark what we’re doing against other competitors. Everyone is doing different things on their farms as well and it’s interesting to see what they are doing, and what we could do better.” Just a stone’s throw from the Southland Field Days in Gore, the 800-hectare farm is home to 6500 breeding ewes, and 1600 replacement hoggets. Generally, all lambs are finished on farm and this year James managed to achieve 20.2kg average carcass weight. Predominantly flat, with some beautiful Southland rolling country, James and Tanya have progressively leased the farm from James’ parents, since 2012, recently taking the full lease. “We run a pretty big farm with just myself and a part-timer. Most people would say that was crazy, but I try to run things as efficiently as I can. There’s a lot of planning, day-to-day, each week and each month. “I’m pretty driven by that and being able to tick things off, and it was certainly rewarding to have that recognised by the judges.” James’ father bought the farm off his father over forty years ago, spending his farming career getting the farm to the stage it is now. Now James and Tanya, and their three young children aged 6, 8 and 10, have the privilege of taking the farm to the next stage in its development. “We’re quite young in the environmental side but we’re starting to do some plantings, fencing off Ballance Farm Environment Awards » Kelvin Grove 01 BFEA Compact Brand Guidelines V1.0 FEB 2022 waterways, and there are blocks that are inefficient that we will plant out in trees to help with our carbon footprint. “The judges could certainly see that, and where we were going. Another benefit of going through the award process was gaining insights and contacts Proudly in support of Kelvin Grove We grow extraordinary outcomes. Get in touch to find out how we could help you make the most from your land. catalystag.co.nz | 0800 670 770 Blackdale Textras One of NewZealand’s Highest Performance Flocks Proud to support Kelvin Grove For enquiries please contact Leon 021 855 106 Or email blackdale70@gmail.com from the judges that will help take us forward.” Born and bred on the farm, farming is James’ passion, though he acknowledges that it is not a career that pays well, nor gives lots of time off. “You certainly have to want to do it, especially sheep farming this season. “There’s no other career where you work twice as hard and get nothing for it at the end of the day. “But I wouldn’t want to do anything else. There are not many opportunities where you get to do what we do. There are many people who would love the opportunity to farm, but it’s not easy for people to get into it, so if you get a chance, grab it with both hands and just run with it.” Proudly providing Kelvin Grove with accounting and business support. Get in touch today and experience the difference of an award-winning accounting firm. mmca.co.nz
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