Rural Award
Sponsored by Landcorp Farming Ltd
Winner - Balleyhooley Dairies.
The way of the future.
If every dairy farmer adopted the approach that David Hughes has taken to managing farm dairy effluent, the community would not be fretting about the impact of dairying on our waterways and most of Environment Southland’s compliance staff would be out of a job.
Balleyhooley Dairies has installed a system for managing farm dairy effluent that minimises the risk of failure, error and accident. It is also designed with health and safety in mind – good for staff as well as for the environment – and uses the best of Southland ingenuity and engineering with local designs and locally made components.
Last night Balleyhooley Dairies was named winner of the Rural Environment Award.
Their system is efficient, failsafe, simple and flexible. It involves one pump, two concrete "Hyponds" and a Gator Buddy travelling irrigator. It also has the potential for harnessing the methane gas produced by the stored effluent for future energy use.
Highly Commended - Clean, Green Effluent Company.
Lindsay Lewis of the Clean, Green Effluent Company has made it his mission to design and refine better ways for dealing with farm dairy effluent.
His system is based on the proven elements of K-line pods and storage ponds with a weeping wall, but with improved valves and other features that deliver effluent at very low application rates – as little as half a millimetre in 24 hours.
The ponds are lined with concrete with the weeping wall placed down the middle, making it easier to clean and more effective in the way it functions.
Trials with Lindsay's system suggest that farmers can continue spraying effluent onto paddocks even during rainfall, avoiding the need for large storage ponds.
Other Nominees
BioBugs
BioBugs aims to reduce the impact that farm dairy effluent has on the environment and maximise the benefits that the nutrients can give to pasture. The company offers a management system that adds selected bacteria to dairy effluent to enhance the performance of on-farm storage ponds and improve the quality of effluent when it's sprayed onto paddocks as a fertiliser.
Doug Speden
In the last 15 years alone, Doug Speden has single-handedly killed over 8000 pest animals on properties around Eastern and Southern Southland. Doug is a deadly shot and he doesn't accept payment for his efforts – he says it's his pleasure to keep the pest population in check.
Pat Turnbull
Pat, who was the winner of the Individual Award, was also nominated in this category for her ongoing commitment to the Sherwood Forest project and the Sherwood Heritage Museum.
Environment Southland is the brand name of Southland Regional Council.