Native birds’ best bud

Dairy Trainee of the Year Bill Hamilton is a conservationist at heart who enjoys and is succeeding at dairy farming.

He is employed by Andrew and Vicky Booth, sharemilkers on the family farm at Titoki, Northland. Judges for the National

Dairy Awards said Hamilton, aged 24, is strong across all areas and is an excellent allround farmer. He has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from Lincoln University and will put his practical experience into work as a rural professional in future.

Hamilton spoke at the field day about the pest control work he enjoys on the Booth farm.

The farm has 18 possum or cat traps and five mustelid traps.

Hamilton read out with pride the tallies of pests caught in these traps.

Dairy Trainee of the Year Bill Hamilton loves encouraging birds into native bush by trapping the pests that pose a threat.

His primary employment as a farm assistant means milking cows and the pest management tasks are designed not to be timelimiting.

“I carry peanut butter and cat biscuits and when I am riding on the bike and see a trap that has been activated I just hop off and reset, not losing any time.

“Conservation doesn’t need to be time-consuming and it is very rewarding.”