Farm Forestry New ZealandHusqvarna Farm Forester of the Year awards
Julian Bateson, New Zealand Tree Grower February 2019.
It is getting close to the time when the Husqvarna awards are judged before the winners are chosen and announced at the conference in May. Normally, by this time, the nominations should have been put forward by the relevant branches so that there is plenty of time for the judges to make their assessments. However, it is never too late to send in nominations. If they are too late for this year they can be carried over to next year.
Husqvarna have been sponsoring these awards for over 30 years with the first sponsorship in 1988. Before then there were awards for the best farm forester of the year but the sponsor was Sachs-Dolmar.
The prize, as most of you will know, is a Husqvarna chainsaw. For the past few years this has been an electric chainsaw which is the way of the future – no vibration, no fumes, low sound and very low running costs. There is also the prestige for the winners of being awarded one of the NZFFA’s top awards. The NZFFA has enjoyed working with Husqvarna for all these years and hopes the partnership will continue well into the future.
It seemed to be a good opportunity to list all the Husqvarna award winners since they started in 1988. They are shown in the table below. We all get to see who the winners are at the conference and in the Tree Grower, as well as those who attend the field day which the winners are required to host within a year of the award. However, memories are short, and a reminder of the quality of the winners seems appropriate.
| Year | Husqvarna North Island Farm Foresters of the Year | Husqvarna South Island Farm Foresters of the Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Murray King | Graeme and Joy Flett |
| 1989 | Bob Berry | Arthur and Gwen Hyde |
| 1990 | Kitty and Peter Parsons | Kay and Jim Steven |
| 1991 | Parry Thorby | John and Anne Mackay |
| 1992 | Denis Hocking | John and Pat Bayne |
| 1993 | John and Orrel McIntyre | Ken and Caroline Stevens |
| 1994 | Kevin and Beverley Thomson | Dugald and Mandy Rutherford |
| 1995 | Tom and Dora Hartree | John and Rosalie Wardle |
| 1996 | Kipper and Esther Holt | Brian and Anne Marsden |
| 1997 | Nick and Pat Seymour | Graeme and Helen Cook |
| 1998 | Don and Viv Tantrum | Don and Joan Gordon |
| 1999 | Jeremy Thomson | Michael and Michelle Anderson |
| 2000 | Paul and Jenny Hill | John and Helen Nicholls |
| 2001 | Alec Olsen and Heather Bell | Alistair and Kate MacIntosh |
| 2002 | Dougal and Diana McIntosh | Ally and Lin Campbell |
| 2003 | Donald and Louise McIntyre | Nick and Biddy Ledgard |
| 2004 | Peter and Nancy Coates | Eoin and Noeline Garden |
| 2005 | Michael and Audrey Hay | Warren and Elizabeth Scott |
| 2006 | Kees and Kay Weytmans | Don and Jan Wyllie |
| 2007 | Jim and Coralie Davies | John and Betty Greenslade |
| 2008 | Ray and Brace Newman | Chris and Julian Dawkins |
| 2009 | David and Ngaire Bryant | John Purey-Cust |
| 2010 | Gordon Perry | George and Terry McMeeken |
| 2011 | David and Cloie Blackley and Gabrielle Walton | Neil and Pam Cullen |
| 2012 | Roger and Daphne Redington | Dennis and Margaret Larsen |
| 2013 | Meg Gaddum and Bob Wishart | Charles and Sandy Wiffen |
| 2014 | John and Diny Dermer | Graeme McArthur |
| 2015 | John and Sue Upton | Graham and Pam Hunter |
| 2016 | John and Christine Pedersen | Bevan Walker and Nora Flight |
| 2017 | Dave Forsyth | Mark and Marjorie Hay |
| 2018 | Dean Satchell | Terry and Claire Gavin |
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