Tuesday 13 July 2021
Chris and Julia Dawkins at their Waihopai Valley farm, The Pyramid, after winning the Marlborough Sheep and Beef Farmer of the Year competition recently. Photo: Ruth Thompson.
Marlborough’s great pyramid Matt Brown
A well-known farming family have been awarded another top accolade. The Dawkins family have taken the title of Marlborough Sheep and Beef Farmer of the Year. The family’s 602-hectare farm in the Waihopai Valley, the Pyramid, edged out Middlehurst
Station to take the prestigious award at a special prizegiving at the Beef and Lamb Winter seminar. Patriarch Chris Dawkins says he is very pleased with the result. “It was pleasing to win, given the calibre of the Middlehurst entry. “When you’ve been doing it for 45 years, you do gain a bit of
confidence in your systems.” Chris says he tries to match the best land use to the land type on property; sheep, cattle, trees, bees, grapes and a firewood business all have their own niche on the land. “If you look after your land, and you look after your animals, the financials generally fall into place,” he says.
Marlborough Sheep and Beef Farmer of the Year Trust chairman Simon Harvey says the Dawkins are very deserving of the win. “They operate to a very high level in all the aspects that we judge.” Simon and his family won the inaugural event in 2016 with their Glen Orkney Station, in the Medway Valley.
The Dawkins’ latest win follows a landmark environment award; making the Pyramid only the second farm in 25 years to receive the prestigious prize. They were the supreme winners of the Marlborough Environment Awards in 2019. “It celebrates every aspect continued on page 2
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