Dairy’s top women

By Gerald Piddock

Taranaki farmer and community leader Donna Cram has been named Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year for 2023 in recognition of her contributing to the dairy sector with passion, drive, innovation and leadership.

Cram is a fourth-generation dairy farmer from Taranaki, farming 107 effective hectares plus a nearby 42ha runoff, milking 290 cows for the new season.

She is heavily involved in her community as the Taranaki Catchment Communities Inc chair and founder, part of the DairyNZ Dairy Environment Leaders, an ambassador for Federated Farmers, a councillor on the Taranaki Regional Council and a trustee at Dairy Trust Taranaki.

She says she defines leadership as bringing people together and getting buy-in at grassroots level. Achieving that and using the skills of the people in those groups is key.

“I’ve been told I’m really hard to say no to,” she laughs.

“It’s about people. I love a good discussion and I think we don’t do that enough. For innovation and good ideas, quite often it comes from four different people, and I think that’s really important.”

Cram says she does not believe all of her ideas are good ideas – but through listening to others, she is able adopt and collaborate with ideas she learns from others.

“Some of the good things that have happened, chances are that other people have been involved.

“You never lead alone.”

Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) trustee Donna Smit says what stood out for the judges was the way that Cram inspires her community and especially encourages young people.

“Her ability to see the big picture and then mobilise those around her was something the judges’ thought was really special,” Smit says.

“They were looking for commitment, drive and passion for the dairy sector, someone who is a positive role model for women in dairying. They were looking for a strong performer who demonstrates leadership within her community, and with a wider circle of influence, and who epitomises the ‘bigger, brighter, bolder’ mantra shared through the DWN Conference.”

Cram received a scholarship of up to $20,000 for an approved and personally chosen development programme, or professional/business coaching and/ or learning experience for winning the award.

She says she is still deciding how best to use the opportunity that scholarship will bring.

“It will definitely be around leadership and governance, and I would like it to be on a world stage rather than local.”

She was presented with the award at the DWN’s recent conference in Invercargill.

Also recognised was Matamata dairy farmer and a member of DWN’s Te Awamutu Business Group, Rachel Usmar, who was named DWN Regional Leader of the Year.

Usmar says she felt humbled winning the award, finding it hard to believe that her everyday actions inspired others.

“I just do it because I love it.”

Usmar left school when she was 16, working as a hairdresser for 16 years before buying a property and becoming a calf rearer.

“I did a few things in between but never felt fully satisfied just being a hairdresser,” she says.

Over the past eight years she has also worked as an AB technician for LIC and more recently has branched into dairy farming by purchasing a herd and leasing a 65ha farm for the coming season and milking 200 cows in the Matamata-Tirau district.

Over the past two seasons, Usmar has also run a native tree nursery, aiming in part to get plants into schools to educate children about the industry.

A major supporter of her endeavours has been husband Jared, who works as a ground-spread fertiliser truck operator, contracted to a local ground-spreading business.

When asked how she manages these tasks, she laughs:

“You could say time management is one of my strengths. I wake up in the morning and I say, ‘I’ve got this and this to get done and what’s the most efficient way of getting it done?’”

Usmar initially joined DWN to meet other like-minded women. Then she realised the business and leadership opportunities that existed within the organisation.

Westland chief executive Richard Wyeth took on the role knowing the company was making a loss but he and his team have begun to turn those losses around.