Bledisloe Medal

Press, 8 May 1982, Page 3

Bledisloe Medal

A North Island hill-country farmer, Mr Martin McAdam, has been named the Bledisloe medallist for 1982. The Bledisloe Medal was instigated in 1930 at the time of Lincoln College’s jubilee by the then Governor-Gen-eral, Lord Bledisloe, and is awarded each year to a former student of the college who is considered to have put into practice most thoroughly the training he had at Lincoln. Mr McAdam was a member of the 1949 diploma of valuation and farm management class which has now produced four Bledisloe medallists. Mr McAdam jointly purchased in 1954 a run-down, semi-developed property at the foot of the Kaimai Range, near Okoraire, and in five years increased the stock units from 400 to 5000. Today the farm carries 9000 units. The partnership purchased 485 ha of virgin scrub pumice country near Taupo in 1964, increasing its carrying capacity from zero to 3000 sheep and 300 cattle by 1977. According to the award’s citation, Mr McAdam had no management prejudices, and adopted systems which showed a fundamental understanding of his land. He had . a keen appreciation of profitability, but also a readiness for change.