Friday, March 29, 2024

More than ticking boxes

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Evan and Linda Potter say they were surprised to be named as the new national ambassadors for New Zealand sustainable farming and growing because the calibre of the other 2020 Ballance Farm Environment awards regional winners was so high. However, as Colin Williscroft found out, the way they run their Hawke’s Bay sheep, beef and deer farm has been ahead of the game for quite some time.
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A LOT of what the Potters do on their Elsthorpe farm is not rocket science, Evan says, it’s just common sense.

When they initially saw the farm in the late 1990s, one of the things that struck them about the property was the unfenced gorge that runs through the middle of it.

“When we looked at it our first thought was ‘that gorge has got to come out, it’s got to be fenced out’,” Evan said.

“While it was going to be a massive undertaking, from a managerial point of view it just made sense. Time savings, animal health, stock losses, everything. It was a no-brainer from our point of view.”

Fortunately, they had been to a field day and seen what had been done elsewhere in partnership with the QEII National Trust.

And that’s where it all started; they got someone from QEII to look at another part of the farm and that person, seeing the property and hearing its owners’ goals, asked whether the couple would consider a partnership with QEII to fence off the gorge.

“She could see what we were trying to do and what it could become,” he said.

“That partnership (with QEII) must have sped up development 10-fold, because it would have taken us years to do it on our own.” 

However, it wasn’t all easy going.

“The biggest headache was that it took out the whole water source because everything was fenced into the creek, so all the stock went down there for water,” he said.

They had to put in a trough system – but they were going to do that anyway.

“All the research says your productivity increases: you get better grazing, more even grazing, better growth out of trough water than out of creek or dam (water),” he said.

Preserving the quality of the water that runs through the farm means they meet all current water quality regulations, but it’s more than just ticking those boxes for the Potters.

“From our point of view, Te Mana o te Wai is every New Zealanders’ problem,” he said.

“Water is life blood. And, as we have a slightly bigger backyard than the average person in town we have a slightly bigger responsibility, but it doesn’t diminish everyone’s responsibility.”

Not long after arriving 23 years ago on the now 740ha property, of which 22% is retired into mainly QEII covenants, they spoke to the local regional council and had a soil conservation plan made.

“I suppose you’d call it one of the original FMPs (farm management plans),” he said. 

“It’s all about land-use, soil erosion and planting trees. We probably didn’t realise the significance of it at the time but it’s pretty much nowadays – with an Overseer budget beside it and a nutrient budget beside it – what a FMP is.

“It’s our founding document. We’ve followed a lot of what was originally set out. Although we’ve probably tweaked it from what we’ve seen by where stock moves and what different land classes have done.

“It’s the best investment we’ve made here to date. The value in that that document is unmeasurable. We still refer to it. 

“It’s a brilliant form of stock take of what you’ve got – and if you don’t know what you’ve got before you start, it’s a bit hard.”

In awarding the Potters the Gordon Stephenson Trophy as recognition of being national ambassadors, the judging panel noted their understanding of the need for sound financial performance to fund environmental projects.

“Sustainability isn’t just the environment, sustainability is people as well. It’s communities, it’s animals and it’s financial,” he said.

“If we’re not financially stable none of that happens. If we don’t look after our people none of it happens. It’s a holistic view.

“The environment can’t be the only thing you consider. Just as financial can’t be the only thing you consider. 

“You have to consider the whole lot together. They all leverage off each other, they all help each other and one doesn’t work without the other.”

The Potters say there are plenty of farmers around the country who could have been chosen as ambassadors for sustainable farming but as the role now falls to them for the next 12 months, they will do whatever they have to.

“That involves promoting sustainability, sharing our story and the journey we’ve been on and if someone can take some inspiration or take anything from what we’ve done and how we’ve done it and apply it in any sort of manner to help them out, then I guess that’s got to be a positive thing,” he said.

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