Cream of the crop

Brendan Attrill of Caiseal Trust in Taranaki is the 2025 National Ambassador for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipient of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy.

Brendan Attrill

The third-generation farmer milks 350 cows on 163 ha at Huinga, inland from Stratford, and is the Regional Supreme Winner at this year’s Taranaki Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Judging for the Gordon Stephenson Trophy considers all eleven BFEA Regional Supreme Winners from across the country.

It includes on-farm judging as well as a panel interview, with the trophy recipients displaying a combination of an exemplar farming operation – from a financial, social and environmental perspective – and the ability to articulate informed responses and insightful views on a range of pan-sector topics.

It’s more than just a title; the National Ambassador represents their cohort and the wider farming and growing community in conversations with Government ministers and leading agribusinesses.

They also represent our primary sector on an international study tour, funded by MPI.

Judging panel chair Karen Williams said Attrill demonstrated exceptional communication skills, is well-informed and can talk knowledgeably about different sectors.

“Brendan has extensive experience, both nationally and internationally, across goat, sheep and beef, and dairy farming, and recognises the challenges different sectors face.”

She says the calibre and diversity of this year’s eleven BFEA Regional Supreme Winners was exceptional, reflecting the programme’s wide reach.

From NZ’s largest hydroponic farm for leafy greens to a deer farmer, kiwifruit grower, dairy farmers, and sheep and beef farmers, the range of sectors represented was broad, with many running highly diversified operations integrating arable cropping, carbon forestry and tourism.