20 | “This year we celebrated another 22 farming families from throughout New Zealand, thus taking the number of families to receive this award to over 680 either centurion or sesqui-centurion (150yrs) farms.” NEW ZEALAND CENTURY FARM AND STATION AWARDS » Century Farms 22 families receive Century Farms Awards Families enjoy the special night where many stories of hardship, perseverance and success over 100+ years are shared. New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards firmly believe that keeping any farm or station in a family from generation to generation, for 100 or more years, through challenging times is an impressive achievement and deserves to be recognised. This year we celebrated another 22 farming families from throughout New Zealand, thus taking the number of families to receive this award to over 680 either centurion or sesqui-centurion (150yrs) farms. Eligible families submit narratives of their farm’s history, together with copies of related photographs and supporting documents which are then archived at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, ensuring all records are kept in perpetuity. A short narrative of these stories is produced in a booklet each year to celebrate each of those families awarded that year. At the Awards dinner each family formally receive a distinctive centennial or sesqui-centennial bronze plaque and a certificate signed by the current Minister of Agriculture to display on their farm or Station. Families enjoy the special night where many stories of hardship, perseverance and success over 100+ years are shared. Farming, whether agricultural, viticultural or horticultural, has been the backbone and prosperity of our country and continues to be so today. From breaking in the land by hand, and then horse, to modern day equipment. Through wars, depressions, pandemics, droughts and floods, financial cissies and government polices these families have survived and built an amazing legacy. Many of our pioneering families contributed greatly to their regions, town and communities, often reshaping at a significant level. For many, the efforts of their ancestors have been under appreciated or completely unacknowledged. These are stories worth telling, not just from a farming perspective but a cultural and social perspective as well. The face of rural New Zealand and its resilience, ingenuity, community and an abiding love for the land they call home. The New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards committee is an organisation, started in 2005, then set up as a group (Lawrence Incorporated 2008) to give New Zealand Farmers an opportunity to be able to record their history and tenure on the land. We are largely a volunteer group running a National Organisation. Now entering our 20th year, the New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards committee in Lawrence, Otago is busy preparing for applicants for those who have had tenure on their land in 1925 or before to honour New Zealand families for the significant achievement of farming their land for 100 years or more. The NZCFSA Committee have a “first in, first served” policy for the event and will use discretion on whether they carry applications over until the following year. Applications for this year close 30th November 2025. Application forms can be found on our website www.centuryfarms.nz or by emailing our National Coordinator on info@centuryfarms.co.nz Lawrence is a natural choice for these awards especially due to the town’s own history. It was in 1861 that gold was discovered in Gabriel’s Gully sparking New Zealand’s first gold rush. A lot of our farming families can trace their own histories back to the Gully.
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