Waikato Business News March/April 2023

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14 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, MARCH/APRIL 2023 Hamilton farming family take out the Ballance Farm Environment Regional Supreme Award Anjena, Arjun, Amreeta and Daljit Singh of Lawwal Holsteins were announced the Regional Supreme Winners at the Waikato Ballance Farm Environment Awards in Hamilton recently. Their journey began when Karamjit Singh migrated from India to New Zealand in 1969, and in 1972 bought his first herd of 65 jersey cows with his wife, Mindy. Their late son, Aman, and his wife, Daljit, were focused on feeding cows to their potential, looking after the environment and increasing production per cow. Aman’s quest for knowledge about free-stall barns took him around the world and, in 2018, a final design was selected and built on the property. It houses 1000 cows and is run today by his three children, Anjena, Arjun and Amreeta. The free-stall barn system provides cows with a fresh total mixed ration that ultimately means they produce less methane than outdoor, fresh-pasture-fed cows. Producing high-quality maize and grass silage is a critical part of the farm’s production because it ensures the cows get plenty of digestible energy. Computer software enables the team to cleverly tailor recipes to suit each herd. In awarding the Regional Supreme Award, the judges commended the fifth-generation farming family’s resilience and commitment to honouring their legacy, and their passion for progressive dairy systems. The Singhs continually modify their farm system to ensure sustainability over the long term. The judges also noted that staff wellbeing is a clear priority and focus, with long tenure being testament to an excellent workplace culture. Reflecting on their move from pasture to free-stall barn farming and the business model they now operate, the Singhs stress that it is not just about the animals, the environment, or their employees. It’s about how all parts of the business connect and complement one another to ensure it is sustainable. Anjena, Arjun, Amreeta and Daljit Singh also won the following awards: • Bayleys People in Primary Sector Award • DairyNZ Sustainability and Stewardship Award • Rabobank Agri-Business Management Award Other Waikato Ballance Farm Environment Award winners include: Chris Pellow — Pellow’s Produce • Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management Award • Hill Laboratories Agri- Science Award • Norwood Farming Efficiency Award Graham and Tess Smith — Miraka Farm • NZFET Biodiversity Award • Waikato Regional Counc Water Protection Award Megan and Phil Weir — Stonyford and Harapepe • Beef + Lamb New Zealand Livestock Farm Award • Waikato River Authority Catchment Improvement Award Tom, Carrie and Luke Andrews – Wholly Cow • NZFET Innovation Award The awards also served to showcase three local catchment groups: Western Firth Catchment Group Trust, King Country River Care, and Taupō Lake Care Incorporated, with Taupō Lake Care Incorporated receiving the Waikato Catchment Group Award. The Ballance Farm Environment Awards are run by the NZ Farm Environment Trust and champion sustainable farming and growing. The Supreme Winner from each of the eleven regions involved in the awards will go through to be considered for the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the Trust’s National Showcase at Te Papa in May. The recipients of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy then become 2023’s National Ambassadors for Sustainable Farming and Growing. Our team DESIGNER Warren Gilbertson studio@dpmedia.co.nz DESIGNER Ellie Neben ellie@dpmedia.co.nz EDITORIAL Janine Jackson editor@dpmedia.co.nz PUBLISHER Deidre Morris Ph: (07) 838 1333 Mob: 027 228 8442 deidre@dpmedia.co.nz ••• STUDIO Copy/Proofs: studio@dpmedia.co.nz SUBSCRIPTIONS accounts@dpmedia.co.nz Waikato Ballance Farm Environment Regional Supreme Award siblings Arjun, Amreeta and Anjena Oceanography Singh researcher Professor Karin Bryan ADVERTISING MANAGER Joanne Poole Ph: (07) 838 1333 Mob: (021) 507 991 joanne@dpmedia.co.nz 2/1 Riro Street, Hamilton Ph: (07) 838 1333 www.wbn.co.nz - www.dpmedia.co.nz Procuta Associates Urban + Architecture Contact us 07 839 6521 www.pauaarchitects.co.nz
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, MARCH/APRIL 2023 15 Action Manufacturing making strides to a sustainable future By Katie Glasgow-Palmer Sustainability lead at Action Manufacturing The team at Action Manufacturing know that environmental action and decarbonisation is urgent. Businesses are being called out for greenwashing and a host of other tactics to deflect reducing their own emissions, pollution and waste. For a vehicle manufacturer, decarbonising is an incredible challenge, waiting for international original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to be able to supply the small market of New Zealand with zero-emission vehicle chassis. In the meantime, however, there are also many immediate, practical steps, which we are pursuing to reduce our impact. If you didn’t know about us already, we manufacture bespoke vehicles for the emergency, recreation, specialist and heavy transport industries. We have a history tracing back more than 70 years to Ci Munro building caravans in Ōtorohanga. Today we manufacture much more than just KEA motorhomes for Tourism Holdings Limited. In 2022, Action acquired Freighter NZ, a nice addition to subsidiary company Fairfax Industries, which both build for the heavy transport industry. We are also Australasia’s leading quality vehicle specialists exporting innovative parcel delivery vans built on a Renault Master to TNT Australia. Ambulances for St John, mobile medical clinics for New Zealand’s DHBs, response vehicles for the New Zealand Defence Force, minibuses and armoured vehicles are just some of our case studies. We have a team of over 350 staff, across five locations including Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch. Action, Fairfax and Freighter work together as one team, adopting the action way into our workplace. What this means is that we are collectively focused on the same goal; Our team, our customers and our planet. Some of Action’s recent sustainability projects include Envirowaste sending our treated wood waste and plywood offcuts to Whangarei to be used as biofuel by Golden Bay Cement, replacing coal in their industrial processes. This is contributing to the production of EcoSure Type GP cement, NZ’s lowest carbon GP cement which has 699kgs CO2e per tonne of cement, 27% less than the ISC 2020 baseline. In addition, we are recycling our vinyl and polystyrene offcuts through local suppliers. We have also purchased a 400kg baler, baling and recycling both cardboard and soft plastics. Our dedicated team helps to keep all these systems running smoothly. We are always looking for new collaborations and partnerships to repurpose, recycle or upcycle our ‘waste’ materials and prevent them from entering our taiao (environment). We have donated quality plywood offcuts to WomeNZ shed, a community wood workshop, which provides the opportunity for women Action Manufacturing team restoring the local Bankwood stream to learn how to work with tools and machinery, and Go Eco, a local Hamilton-based charitable trust providing community education and environmental projects. These have been upcycled into shelves, sound partitions, and pātaka pukapuka, otherwise known as book libraries. Action has done the same with our Omnipanel offcuts, which are used to build walls on all our motorhomes. Given the great insulation, strength and durability properties of the fibreglass-foam composite, the community has taken tremendous interest in repurposing these for sheds, trailer linings and more. We found that Civilshare and Trademe are popular local platforms for donating quality excess material, which would otherwise contribute to landfill - for a hefty fee! Overall, these new recycling and repurposing projects have prevented well over two tonnes of material from landfill since October 2022, and we aim to continue to expand them over the coming years. We recognise that we have the team and the opportunity to make a real and lasting difference in our community. In February, we volunteered six hours into restoring the local Bankwood stream in Hamilton. This was the first of an ongoing community partnership with the Fairfield Project, an urban biodiversity and gully restoration project. As well as weeding to protect the juvenile plants, Action installed four tracking tunnels to see whether any pests were in the area. The goal is to restore the Kukutaaruhe gully to the point where the native kokopu (giant whitebait) and local kuku (native wood pigeon) return in abundance. We are proud to support this project and look forward to the next conservation day in May. Leading up to this, we are installing our own community vegetable garden at our site on Foreman Road. This will be used by team members and staff to grow healthy kai – especially valuable as the cost of living continues to rise. Given that this is a long journey, we are approaching our sustainable transition with honesty, transparency, and integrity. We regularly share progress and work online and with the local community to share sustainability problems and solutions. For us, it begins with weekly team meetings, where new sustainability ideas and projects are born, aiming to protect our Papatūānuku from the ground up. Be sure to look out for the release of our first company sustainability report in 2023, including a five-year plan presenting our sustainability goals. “Our commitment to becoming a future-fit business means reducing our carbon emissions and waste. We know that significant progress on our sustainability journey starts in manufacturing and production. It will require working collaboratively with current and new partners to address the major risks and challenges we face, the lack of cost-effective, longrange electric product options that can materially reduce greenhouse gases. We need to decarbonise industry-wide and encourage all other businesses to adopt the challenge with us,” Action Manufacturing CEO Chris Devoy says. Action acknowledges that rapid decarbonization is urgent and should be the ultimate priority. After all, 17% of New Zealand’s emissions are from the transportation sector, with an additional 10% produced from industrial processes and waste. While Action works on the trickier challenge of reducing emissions, the business can start with more grassroots projects, engaging staff and making small yet tangible progress to waste reduction. With every small step, Action can help shift mindsets and build momentum for a more sustainable future. Action Manufacturing Laminates Action Manufacturing Shelves
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Waikato Business News March/April 2023

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