The riparian plantings on Ray and Lyn Craig’s 178ha Carterton dairy farm rank “amongst the best achieved on a dairy farm in New Zealand” according to the award judges.

Effective too, says Ray Craig of the plantings, part of extensive erosion control work undertaken in the past 14 years on their land, which hosts the confluence of the Enaki and Mangatere Streams.  “When we bought the first block here in 1995, the high silt banks along the waterways weren’t fenced,” he explains. “If we hadn’t done something, it would have just eroded away. I used to think, it’s pretty tough when you see your land ending up in Lake Ferry, it was eroding that fast.”