Mamaku team are Supreme Winners of the 2012 Bay of Plenty Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Farm owners Jim and Barbara Hitchcock and sharemilkers, Rhys and Kim Meredith, also won the Ballance Nutrient Management Award and the LIC Dairy Farm Award. The Hitchcocks own Castlerock Farm, a 190ha dairy unit in the Mamaku Ranges near Rotorua. Castlerock milks about 510 cows, achieving production of about 360kg/MS/cow. Castlerock utilises a low-input, low-cost system, with no purchased feed. Castlerock's location in the Rotorua Lakes catchment means it is subject to regional council rules that restrict most means of increasing farm production. Dairy effluent is carefully managed and the Hitchcocks recently invested an extra $150,000 in their effluent system, even though the previous system already met council requirements.

Two large stand-off pads are used in winter to minimise pasture damage and reduce run-off.

A field day will be held on Castlerock Farm on March 27, 2012.
Other award winners in the 2012 BoP Ballance Farm Environment Awards were:

Hill Laboratories Harvest Award and Beef + Lamb NZ Livestock Award; Rangitaiki Station. PGG Land and Life Award and ZESPRI Kiwifruit Orchard Award; Mark Mayston, Bruntwood Farms Ltd.

Massey University Discovery Award; Harry and Anne Frost, Mamaku Blue. WaterForce Integrated Management Award; Bruce and Judy Woods, Dreamfields Farm Ltd. Bay of Plenty Regional Council Environmental Award; Whakaue Farming Limited, Tihiotonga.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Environmental Award; Douglas and Catherine Bull, Lake Farm.