Featuring the Premier Prize:
‘The Elworthy Environmental Award’
Principally funded by Deer Industry New Zealand. Initiated by the New Zealand Deer Farmers’ Association in 2001 as part of the Landcare Manual Project supported by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's (MAF) Sustainable Farming Fund.
Primary Goals:
- To recognise innovative deer farmers for implementing and practicing sustainable and profitable deer farming practices in land and deer systems management.
- To promote the adoption of sustainable deer farming practices on all deer farms.
- To encourage sharing of experiences and proven best management practices and innovation
Thank you for your interest in the biennial Deer Industry Environment Awards.
We know from talks with those that run similar awards, that the most common excuse for not entering is that “I’m not quite ready yet”. This generally means that people feel they need to finish or tidy something up before committing to enter. It is not a critical feature to have everything finished or perfectly presented, as the awards recognise that sustainability is a work in progress. The judges view future plans and projects in progress positively.
Past entrants report the experience as an enjoyable and constructive process for all.
It is very easy to enter, as there are virtually no formal entry requirements and a few special conditions, allowing almost all New Zealand deer farmers to enter. The entry form is below. Please complete it and we will contact you for more details about the farm and to set up a convenient time for the judging round.
Judging is informal, based on a simple farm tour and related discussions. Typically, the visit will conclude with a Q & A session around the farm table, following the tour in which you can present the important areas of environmental risk management and special features of your farming operation, plantings, water quality enhancement and the other issues that you think are important. Judges will also be interested to hear your Industry views and review any projects and your innovation on farm.
Apart from the Premier Elworthy Award, there will also be other awards for innovation and success in farming deer in an environmentally sensitive manner, financial performance, customer focus and overall sustainability. A list will be provided on our website soon >>
Best wishes and thank you for your entry.