Praise for families farming for a century

Agriculture Minister David Carter (left) with Milton farmers Bob, Jennie and Alishia Clark, who manage the Broom Hill property near Clarksville, which has been owned by the family for 152 years. Photo by Glenn Conway.

New Zealand farmers are a resilient lot, able to adapt to changing times; and those skills will be needed more than ever in the years to come, Agriculture Minister David Carter told a gathering that celebrated families who have owned their farms for more than a century.

The fifth annual New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards were held in Lawrence on Saturday, with 32 families and their properties recognised for their durability in the agriculture sector.

Six farms, including four in Otago, received sesquicentennial awards for keeping their farms under the same family ownership for 150 years or more.

A further 26 farms from around the country received awards for retaining family ownership for a century or more.

In his address, Mr Carter said there were three key characteristics he found in farmers he met around the country - resilience, adaptability and innovation.

"They also have an absolute passion for farming and a love of the land. They . . . have a love of what they do and refuse to let anything get the better of them."

As a first generation farmer at Banks Peninsula, Mr Carter said he truly appreciated what an achievement it was for those families gathered at Lawrence who represented ties of 100-plus years to their farms.

Mr Carter said that despite the rise and fall of the industry, the primary sector had always been vital to New Zealand's economic future and its people's sense of identity.

Even in these tough economic times, people still needed to eat.

It was a good time to be in the food production business.

Full awards list.-

Sesquicentennial awards: Adams farm, Coatbridge, Blenheim; Grace farm, Terawhiti Station, Wellington; McMillan farm, Oamaru; Clark farm, Clarksville, Milton; Finnie farm, Saddle Hill, Dunedin; the Preston family, Longlands Station, Ranfurly.

Century farm and station awards: Martin family, Kaiapoi; Gordon-Glassford farm, Drybread, Omakau; Brown farm, Waimahaka; Crawford farm, Waikoikoi, Gore; Mackay farm, Otama, Gore; Ford farm, Blenheim; Jennings farm, Otara, Invercargill; Nicolson farm, Poolburn, Oturehua; Dougherty farm, Garrawaye, Gimmerburn, Ranfurly; Brock farm, Merino Downs, Gore; Armstrong farm, Poolburn, Oturehua; Trotter farm, Warkworth; Dovey farm, Oamaru; Burnett farm, Bayswater, Otautau; McLean farm, Balfour; Mitchell farm, Owaka Valley; Pannett farm, Roxburgh; Carruthers farm, Clinton; Harvie farm, Nenthorn Valley, Palmerston; Kirke farm, Craigmore Downs, South Canterbury; Mai farm, Ashhurst, Palmerston North; McGee farm, Kaeo, Northland; McRae farm, Mokoreta, Wyndham; Street farm, Taumarunui; Tapper farm, Matamata.

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