November 25, 2015
Tuwharetoa wisdom inspires prize beef
The winner of the supreme prize in this year’s Sustainable Business Network Awards says all farmers are eventually going to have to change their practices to protect water quality.
Mike Barton’s Taupo Beef sources beef and lamb from private and Maori farms around the lake and markets it as a premium product with a sustainability story behind it.
Stock numbers in the catchment were capped to stop the build up of nitrogen in the lake.
Mr Barton says that meant existing farming practices were no longer viable, and farmers had to rethink the whole value chain.
They also worked closely with Ngati Tuwharetoa, which owns the lake bed.
"The fact that they own most of the land that drains into the lake and they have agreed never to intensify a lot of that land is a huge contribution on their part and it means the remaining farmers in the catchment are able to continue in business so I will be forever grateful to Tuwharetoa for their support and their wisdom really around the issue," Mr Barton says.
He says once consumers understand need to be responsible for the environmental effects of what they eat, they are willing to pay more as long as the product is better.
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