Doug Avery is director of Bonavaree Farm in Grassmere, South Marlborough. The 2400-hectare farm has been owned by the Avery family since 1919. The Averys won the 2010 'South Island Farmer of the Year' for their work adapting farm-management systems in response to increasingly dry conditions. Doug was also Chairman of the Starborough/Flaxbourne Soil Conservation Group working with NZ Landcare Trust, an initiative whose innovative work has attracted both national and international attention.