Thank you Jim Cotman and the organisers of the Farm Environment Awards Showcase for the opportunity to speak this evening.

I would like to acknowledge my parliamentary colleagues. And I also want to thank all the entrants, not only the winners. You lay yourselves open to tough scrutiny and exposure - and that takes real courage.

I see the purpose of the Farm Environment Awards as being threefold.

Firstly it's about showing what can be done to balance productivity, profitability and environmental advancement.

Secondly it's about dispelling the negative myths some special interest groups and political parties perpetuate around farming practices - and instead acknowledging the good work being done by our top farmers.

And, thirdly, it's about using the best to lead the rest. We are celebrating those who are expanding new ideas, and we are highlighting what can be achieved.

Tonight we are putting success on a pedestal; we are celebrating the grass-roots leaders in our rural community.

I was also heartened to learn that five out of the eight regional award winners showcased tonight are from the dairy industry.

Dairying has a way to go to convince some New Zealanders that it is an environmentally sustainable industry.

I was with the Prime Minister at the launch of the New Zealand Dairy Strategy here in Parliament last month, and I said then that this is one area where the dairy industry needs to show leadership.

Ten years ago, I was the Associate Minister of Agriculture. Since then the biggest change has been a shift both in New Zealand and internationally in consumer concern for environmental sustainability.

Today, environmental sustainability is our industry's biggest challenge, especially when it comes to water use and water quality.

We have certainly come a long way, but we must appreciate, listen and act on this genuine concern - because to ignore it will be at our peril.

Modern consumers are discerning - they want safe food that is produced with the environment at the forefront of farming practices. This demand will not go away.

Awards like these highlight a proactive approach to this demand and again I congratulate all those involved for their leadership and vision.

The primary sector needs to accept ownership of its environmental performance. It is an integral part of your future business success.

But no industry can be truly sustainable without profitability and international competitiveness. There is that great saying, "It is hard to be green when you are in the red."

So another theme that strikes a chord with me is the focus on environmental performance alongside economic performance - while valuing and developing the people involved.

A recurring theme in the regional finalists' efforts is that sustainability does not happen by accident. It's a planned and focused approach.

Farms are a system - all inputs affect other outputs. And I'm not talking just about fertiliser and feed.

• Build a good farming team from family, employees and trusted advisors, and your farm's collective knowledge and skill will grow.

• Provide shade and shelter trees and follow good animal welfare practices, and you will benefit from improved animal health.

Our good farmers are prepared for adverse events, whether they are financial or climatic. They will adapt their systems to cope.

With extreme weather patterns - droughts or floods or severe storms - set to become more common as climatic conditions change, these resilient farms need to become the norm.

And this is ultimately the aim of these awards.

The Farm Environment Awards are about highlighting good farming practice.

They take an ideal and expand on it - helping farmers around New Zealand to access good ideas for smart farming.

Family farming is still the most common form of farming in New Zealand, and the wish of these families to pass on land and skills to future generations is strong.

In conclusion, tonight has been thought provoking for me, and I've been a farmer for 30 years.

We need to develop and reward leaders in sustainable farming. So I am pleased that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the New Zealand Farm Environment Award Trust sponsor a Sustainability Scholarship of $15,000.

This award is open to all regional winners to undertake a major study topic relevant to sustainable and profitable farming in New Zealand.

So without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to announce the New Zealand Farm Environment Award Trust and MAF Scholar for 2009, Richard and Sarah Burdon.

Richard and Sarah farm sheep, beef and deer on Glen Dene Station on the shores of Lake Hawea and have been involved in a number of local, regional and national farming organisations.

Richard and Sarah's study topic is Farm Ownership Structures for New Zealand sheep, beef and deer farms.

Whilst the dairy farming sector has a wide range of ownership options available, the options for sheep, beef and deer farms appear more limited.

The importance of having a good ownership structure is an integral part of the sustainable farming business, and one which is often ignored.

Seeking advice and setting up ownership structures can be expensive, so Richard and Sarah would like to review a range of ownership structures and identify a number of options available to farmers.

This will provide alternatives so farmers can remain farming sheep, beef or deer rather than changing land use or selling the family farm.

Richard and Sarah, I wish you well with your scholarship and look forward to hearing the results of the study.

Thank you.