Dr Stevens received the Alliance significant contribution award at the recent Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) awards held in Napier.
His career had spanned one of the more tumultuous periods in New Zealand’s agricultural history — he had seen the removal of subsidies and the rapid shift from a focus on stocking rates and wool production to meat and productivity.
The farm systems scientist, who has a background in agronomy, was initially involved in plant breeding.
But that changed in the early 1990s when farmers found what they were producing was no longer fit for market, a statement from B+LNZ said.
They needed forages that would deliver animal performance, and Dr Stevens and his colleagues began doing animal production trials alongside agronomic trials. That morphed into farm systems work.
Dr Stevens said the most rewarding part of his work was having the opportunity to work one-on-one with farmers through a "huge" range of projects.
Judges noted that he personified the value of science in increasing productivity and efficiency in the sheep and beef sector.
He had been instrumental in creating the foundation of modern sheep and beef farming systems, which had delivered prosperity to many farmers.
By: Staff reporter
