Ethical farmer’s excited by award

Sage farm owner Chris Balazs was “absolutely gobsmacked” to win the sustainability category of the 2016 Geelong Business Excellence Awards.
“I took the whole team along to the awards dinner and it was really good to be a part of the awards,” Chris said.
“It was our first time, we were the first ones nominated for sustainability and I was lost for words when we won.”
Chris encourages other small businesses to enter the “encouraging” and “very exciting” award.
He describes the process as “therapeutic, whether you win or not”.
“Winning the award has opened doors for us to some of the top restaurants wanting to source sustainable meat for their customers.
“I’m trying to change the food system for the better, to ethically-produced food.”
With a corporate background in pharmaceuticals for 20 years, Chris opened Sage farm as a career change 15 years ago.
The farm, also home to his family, overlooks the Moorabool Valley at Bannockburn.
Sage, which Chris explains is an acronym for sustainable, agricultural, grass-fed enterprise, produces beef and lamb from its on-site butchery.
Sustainability practices on the farm include crop, paddock, and land and soil management, recycling and the use of compost.
The home uses solar power and collected water, with a design to make the most of natural heating and cooling opportunities.
Chris said sustainability needs to strike a balance between environmental, human, and financial considerations.
“It’s about developing the people within the business in order to grow and for the business to still be around in the next 10 years,” he said.
Sage opened a farm stay in separate housing on the property late last year as part of its expansion into tourism.
Sage farm is at 2430 Midland Highway, Bannockburn. Phone 0428 795 663.