A record 12 sesquicentennial farms will be recognised at this year’s New Zealand Century Farms and Station Awards, held in Lawrence this weekend.

“It’s the most we’ve had in one event,” says Edwin Fitzgerald, chair of the New Zealand Century Farms and Station Awards. The awards, which began in 2005, recognise farming operations that have remained within the same family lineage for 100 years or more.

Eligibility is not limited to direct descent. Fitzgerald says ownership can pass through either the male or female line.

“It could well be down one side of the family tree, so to speak, that is quite remote from where they first started.”

The earliest property currently in the system dates to 1839, a year before the Treaty of Waitangi. Fitzgerald says establishing that historical continuity requires documentary proof, including land titles, to confirm “that’s where their forebears bought the property, bought the land, went in and cleared the land and set it up to start to produce protein for markets.”

He says qualifying operations are not limited to traditional sheep and beef farms, with some properties having undergone significant changes in land use over their duration.

“Some of those farming entities are stations, some could be an orchard.”

Leased land held in perpetuity also qualifies, with continuity of operation the central criterion.

This year’s event includes 34 century farms alongside the 12 sesquicentennial properties. A meet and greet on Friday evening at the Tuapeka Vintage Club on Gabriel’s Gully Road will host 160 guests, with the awards evening on Saturday drawing 280 people, including committee members and sponsors.

Fitzgerald says some families do not realise the significance of the milestone until the Saturday evening.

“It’s only when they get to the awards evening and look at what’s been set up in front of them that they really do appreciate and realise the significance of what their families have achieved.”

The awards were established with support from Russell and Anne Brown of Mount Stuart. Anne Brown will deliver the grace at Saturday’s ceremony.

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