Curwen and Maija Hare possess what the award judges described as “an impressive, balanced approach” to farming their 275ha (230ha effective) Waituna West hill country property.

The judges commended the couple’s use of expert knowledge to steer their business through the restraints of debt loading (a legacy of land purchase at a high in the early 1980s) and their property’s natural limitations due to contour, varied and some heavy wet soils, limited natural water, and exposure to wind “from all directions”.