Fruitbowl - Fresh Ideas from Hawke's Bay

The 2011 Ballance Farm Environment Awards provide East Coast farmers with the perfect opportunity to show how much they care about environmental sustainability, says Hawke's Bay farmer and awards chairman Bruce Wills.

Entries for the awards opened on Wednesday (and close October 17).

Bruce Wills

Bruce, who farms an 800ha (effective) Te Pohue sheep and beef farm with his brother Scott, says he is excited the prestigious competition has come to the East Coast - a region he believes is home to some of the best farmers in the country.

In fact, Bruce was hoping to be among the first to enter the inaugural East Coast Ballance Farm Environment Awards, until he got "tapped on the shoulder" and asked to be the region's awards chairman.

He urges farmers to get in behind the East Coast awards and enter the competition.

"It will be a wonderful experience and it's a great way to benchmark your farm against other properties. You will learn a lot and you will meet some great people."

Bruce says every entrant that enters will be visited by three expert and independent judges who will be happy to offer useful advice.

"I think the East Coast is really looking forward to these awards. It's a great opportunity for the region to show the rest of the country that we have some outstanding farms and some excellent examples of environmental sustainability."

Entries for the 2011 East Coast Ballance Farm Environment Awards opened on September 1 and close on 17 October.

For more information or an entry form, visit www.bfea.org.nz