YOUR LEVY AT WORK
FIRST WOMAN WINNER AT PUKEKOHE Words by Glenys Christian. Photos by Matt Silcock
Bernadine Guilleux, Heather Feetham, Barry O'Neil and Nadine Tunley
Heather Feetham rewrote the history books early in May when she became the first woman to win the Pukekohe Young Grower of the Year Competition. But three young male growers who all had their eye on the award and the chance to take out national honours later in the year didn’t make it easy. Heather, 25, said she was very honoured to win on her first attempt. “I didn’t know what to expect and there was fierce competition,” she said. “I’ve taken a lot away from it, identified my weaknesses which I can work on and also build my strengths.” She thanked her co-workers at T&G Fresh for getting her involved, especially former Young Horticulturalist of the Year, Ben Smith, who she said give up his time willingly to help her out. Heather grew up in Adelaide and always liked science and the outdoors. “I wasn’t sure how to make it a career,” she said. But attending a school with an agricultural course and an onsite farm was the push she needed. 14 NZGROWER : JUNE 2021
That led her to study agricultural science at Adelaide University, then she and her partner, Dave, came to New Zealand in 2017. After some time working in hospitality in Queenstown, they were keen to get back to their careers, so moved to Auckland. She found work at Pukekoke kiwifruit grower, Punchbowl, as a lab technician, then made the move to T&G Fresh working at their Favona Road facility. Now she is a covered crop manager at its GER site in Tuakau where she particularly enjoys the variety of the work involved with growing tomatoes. “You never have a dull day.” Heather also took out the best speech as well as the business award. For their speeches contestants were given the topic: How can we as growers react best to this fastchanging world? Heather urged growers to change their mindset from being reactive to proactive. And she used her experience on the netball court to draw a comparison. “We don’t know when someone is going to pass us the ball,” she said. “We’ve just got to equip ourselves with the skills to do what we have to when that happens.” Every generation has faced challenges and to adapt and thrive they all needed to be willing to explore all options and trust the young.
