www.age.co.nz Thursday, March 11, 2021
FEATURE SUPPLEMENT 21
NEW ZEALAND
DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS
HAWKE’S BAY WAIRARAPA REGION
W
Hotel Masterton on Thursday 25 March with categories for Share Farmer of the Year, Dairy Manager of the Year, and Dairy Trainee of the Year.
One of the highlights of the dairy industry calendar, the winners will be announced at an Awards Dinner at the Copthorne Solway Park
The three winners of each category will then go on to the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards national final, with national winners announced in Hamilton on Saturday 15 May.
ith a theme of Celebrating Aotearoa, the 2021 Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Industry Awards dinner promises to be an evening not to be missed.
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22 FEATURE SUPPLEMENT
Thursday, March 11, 2021 Wairarapa Times-Age
A night of celebration The three categories in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are:
The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards attracts farmers from across the country, working in all levels of the dairy industry.
Share Farmer of the Year The Share Farmer of the Year is open to all self-employed farmers such as sharemilkers, contract milkers, lessees and equity farm managers.
The three categories give entrants the chance to challenge themselves, earn a regional or national title and to share in substantial regional and national prize pools.
Share Farmer of the Year entrants also have the opportunity to have the body of work they prepare for the awards also count towards modules in the New Zealand Diploma in Agribusiness Management. This process is called Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Regional Managers Thomas and Jennifer Read say the regional awards dinners are always a night of celebration, and not just for the winners.
NEW ZEALAND
“The regional dinners not only focus on the regional winners and those in other categories, but provide another opportunity to meet, network and socialise with like-minded people who live and breathe the dairy industry. “They are also an opportunity for the volunteers and sponsors to be acknowledged.
DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS
HAWKE’S BAY WAIRARAPA REGION
“They provide invaluable support in so many ways to the entrants and the Awards in general. Plus, they are a chance for everyone to relax and have some fun!” New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards General Manager Robin Congdon says entering one of the categories remains one of the best ways people can raise their profile and reputation, as well as learn more about the industry to progress their career.
Jennifer, Thomas, Johnny (3), Annabelle (4), and Eleanor (1)
Entering the Awards really is a learning journey – about the industry, about your business and about you as a farmer. - New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards General Manager, Robin Congdon “The overwhelmingly positive feedback we receive from entrants is how much they learnt during the process and how glad they are they entered,” he says. “Entrants tell us that they really had to sit down and look at their business and how they were doing things on the farm and why. “Entering the Awards really is
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a learning journey – about the industry, about your business and about you as a farmer,” says Robin. The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac, DeLaval, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda, LIC, Meridian Energy, and Ravensdown, along with industry partner DairyNZ.
Dairy Manager of the Year The Dairy Manager of the Year programme is open to all salaried farm workers, including farm assistants, assistant farm managers, 2ICs, operations managers, farm managers, herd managers, production managers and others. Dairy Trainee of the Year The Dairy Trainee of the Year programme is open to those aged from 18 to 25 years with no more than three years full-time experience on a dairy farm. A Regional Winners Field Day will be held on Wednesday 14 April at a venue yet to be announced. To purchase tickets for the Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Industry Awards Dinner and for more information on the New Zealand Dairy Awards visit www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz
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www.age.co.nz Thursday, March 11, 2021
FEATURE SUPPLEMENT 23
24 FEATURE SUPPLEMENT
Thursday, March 11, 2021 Wairarapa Times-Age
Dairy Manager of the Year Finalists
Share Farmer of the Year Finalists
Damon Ashworth
- Farm Manager - Featherston
Claire Douglas
- Farm Manager - Napier
Manoj Kumar
& Sumit Kamboj - 50:50 Sharemilker - Eketahuna
Leon McDonald
Rene Ten Bolscher
- 2IC - Woodville
- Farm Manager - Carterton
Simarpreet Singh
- Herd Manager - Eketahuna
Dairy Trainee of the Year Finalists NEW ZEALAND
Sam Craig & Svetlana Dumansovskaya
- Contract Milker - Carterton
Tony Craig
Kevin Liengme
Kiki Ritmeester
Jacob Stolte
Heidi Tarbotton
Aliyah Wong
- Assistant Manager - Carterton
- 2IC - Dannevirke
- Farm Assistant - Takapau
DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS
HAWKE’S BAY WAIRARAPA REGION
Adam Hands & Zoe Haylock
- 50:50 Sharemilker - Takapau
- Herd Manager - Carterton
- Farm Assistant - Woodville
- Trainee - Featherston
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www.age.co.nz Thursday, March 11, 2021
Fonterra responsible dairying award nominations open
FEATURE SUPPLEMENT 25
While New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards regional finalists are being named during 11 award dinners being held around the country this month, nominations to a national award that flushes out dairy farmers who demonstrate innovation and passion in their approach to sustainable dairying remain open until March 20. The Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award was introduced by the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards to recognise those dairy farmers who are respected by their farming peers and their community for their attitude and role in sustainable dairying. Entry for this award is by nomination only via dairyindustryawards.co.nz The 2021 Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award farmer could come from any of New Zealand’s milk suppliers and any farmer or farming partnership who demonstrates a high calibre of performance and leadership in the areas of responsible and sustainable care of people, animals, ecosystems and communities are eligible to enter. Robin Congdon, New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards General Manager, says that is important to showcase the good work farmers are doing within the industry as it does not always get the exposure it deserves.
Nicky and Nick Dawson, the 2020 Fonterra Responsible Dairying Awards winners “We have excellent, experienced dairy farmers creating and working on wonderful projects that have a positive effect on the environment. “We want to hear about the projects and the people who are farming responsibly, both environmentally and socially, and showcasing excellence on a daily basis. “This is a chance for people to nominate their neighbour, their employer or someone in their community.
“This Award gives us the opportunity to recognise farmers that have progressed to ownership, demonstrate leadership in their farming practices and are a role model for our younger farmers coming through,” he says. The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac, DeLaval, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda, LIC, Meridian Energy, and Ravensdown, along with industry partner DairyNZ. Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa farmers
NEW ZEALAND
Nick and Nicky Dawson won the 2020 Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award and received the John Wilson Memorial Trophy. Nomination forms are available at dairyindustryawards.co.nz, with entries closing March 20th.
DAIRY INDUSTRY
From those nominations, three finalists will be selected and interviewed by a panel of judges at the National Final to be held in Hamilton this year with the winner announced at the Awards dinner on May 15 2021.
HAWKE’S BAY WAIRARAPA REGION
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26 FEATURE SUPPLEMENT
Thursday, March 11, 2021 Wairarapa Times-Age
Farm ownership the goal of Dairy Trainee of the Year Tom Quinn was very new to the dairy industry when he entered the 2020 Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Trainee of the Year. The then 24-year-old was in his first season as a Senior Farm Assistant on Selwyn and Jenny McLachlan 210ha, 920-cow farm at Masterton. Tom went to school at Rathkeale College before completing a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Lincoln University. The Canterbury tertiary institution was a “real eye-opener” in terms of the career options it unveiled. In the end though, Tom chose a career in the dairy industry.
NEW ZEALAND
DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS
HAWKE’S BAY WAIRARAPA REGION
“A big goal of mine is farm ownership and I think that the dairy industry appealed to me because there is a clear career pathway to owning your own farm. “In the dairy industry you can move from manager to contract milker to share milker, building equity along the way, so that you are in a position to own your own farm. “I would like to have my own farm by 40 – hopefully a bit faster than that. My goal is to be a sharemilker within five years.” Tom loves the lifestyle of his chosen career.
“More and more I’m enjoying the analytical side of farming, which is becoming more important. I’m definitely a numbers person. I like to sit down and analyse data and see how I am doing on paper.”
“I grew up on a dairy farm in Carterton. Every day is different, and you work outside.
Tom also won the TH Enterprises Ltd Community & Industry Involvement Award at the Hawke’s
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FEATURE SUPPLEMENT 27
www.age.co.nz Thursday, March 11, 2021
Learning from the best 2020 Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Manager of the Year, Stephen Smyllie likes to review his goals.
him, especially for networking and benchmarking his skills. “It allowed me to look into the entire business and make changes where necessary.”
This has led to the occasional detour, but the end result had Stephen arrive at an exciting new phase of his career at just 24.
After winning the title, Stephen didn’t rush into a farm management position.
Stephen was milking cows even before he left Hauraki Plains College, with a weekend job down the road from where his family lived on a lifestyle property. The college had an excellent agricultural studies programme with its own trust farm and in his final year Stephen won its Primary Industries and Agricultural Student awards.
“I decided to spend one more season where I was to ensure that I was confident in my skills and abilities before taking the next step. “I’m in the dairy industry for the long haul. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and I was at the stage in my career where I could continue to learn from the people I had around me, to further develop my skills that would help me for the rest of my career.”
“When I left, I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do but I had enjoyed the school courses and liked making good money milking,” he recalls.
Stephen says he wouldn’t change the career development journey he has had with Pāmu for anything.
Stephen decided to do a one-year Diploma in Agriculture at Lincoln University. “I had always wanted to go to university but didn’t want to commit to a three-year degree. At the end of that year after passing my courses I decided I wanted to go and work full-time on a dairy farm.” Stephen got a job as a farm assistant on the 1300 cow, 500ha Pāmu Farms (formerly Landcorp) in Waikato. One of the things he liked about Pāmu was that there was a clear career path from farm assistant to 3IC, 2IC, and farm manager with the end goal of business manager of a cluster of Pāmu farms. “My end goal was not necessarily milking cows every day, but making
strategic management decisions.” To fast track his career, Stephen went back to Lincoln to complete a diploma in farm management, before returning to the Waikato farm. When the farm was passed back to iwi, Stephen chose to work at Pamu’s Wingpoint Dairy Unit at Kahutara in South Wairarapa. “This provided me with an opportunity to work with farm management and make a name for myself in a production management/2IC roll, “in charge of cows, grass and people”. “At the same time, it was the closest
farm to Pāmu’s head office in Wellington where I had a mentor in business management.” Wingpoint has previously been one of Pāmu’s higher performing farms but at this stage was struggling with results, Stephen recalls. “We reduced cow numbers from 900 down to 830, and with the same amount of feed, improved drainage and management through attention to detail. We lifted production by over 45,000MS in one season.” In the meantime, Stephen not only won the 2020 Hawke’s Bay/ Wairarapa Dairy Manager of the
“It was great to learn from a business that truly values its people with health and safety, plus work/life balance. It values its animals and their welfare, ensuring we are doing everything in our power to give them the best possible life, while also valuing the land and looking after it to ensure that we will be able to do what we love for years to come.”
Year but also six merit awards for Employee Engagement, Leadership, Feed Management, Livestock Management, Power Play, and Personal Planning & Financial Management. While not placed at the national finals, he did win the Personal Planning & Financial Management Award.
Now Stephen and partner Sophie Stills have established their own business as contract milkers in Te Aroha.
Stephen was not expecting to win Dairy Manager of the Year at his first attempt, but since he did, decided to be part of the committee organising this year’s Wairarapa/Hawke’s Bay Dairy Manager of the Year Award.
“It is really exciting to run our own business. The learning curve has been huge and we are really excited for this next opportunity to continue to progress.”
Stephen appreciates the opportunity taking part in the awards gave
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28 FEATURE SUPPLEMENT
Thursday, March 11, 2021 Wairarapa Times-Age
Numerous benefits from entering The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are an opportunity for entrants to secure their future while learning and connecting with others and growing their career.
“Farming for the Future with the Stevenson Family”, and feel it is important for their family, friends and local community to keep up-todate with what is happening on their farm.
2020 Share Farmers of the Year, Sarah and Aidan Stevenson won the 2020 Waikato Share Farmers of the Year and went on to win the National title as well. They say the benefits to their career and business from entering are worth the effort and time.
“Social media connects us and keeps us informed with what’s happening in the world off-farm. It’s really uplifting to read about and hear good news stories,” say the couple. This year the Stevensons are involved with the Waikato regional committee as Team Leaders for the Share Farmer category and are enjoying being able to encourage the next wave of entrants coming through.
“Winning 100% enhanced our career prospects. We went from feeling like the door was firmly shut on anyone trusting us to take on a second position, to being approached to take on jobs,” they say. “We were successful at securing a lease farm in May 2020, shortly after winning.” The Stevensons were runners-up in the Waikato Share Farmer category in 2019. “Being a top five finalist and runner-up from 2019 also massively enhanced our career as that opened doors to considering second positions as well.
NEW ZEALAND
“Being second-time entrants was invaluable. It gave us a whole year to gather evidence and embed the 2019 judges’ feedback into our system,” says Aidan.
DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS
HAWKE’S BAY WAIRARAPA REGION
“It also gave us more time to think about the judging criteria and brainstorm ways we could bring the X-Factor into each section of our presentation.” Their advice to potential entrants is to “get into it and pre-register interest. “Come along to the winners field days and learn about what makes
2020 Share Farmers of the Year, Sarah and Aidan Stevenson our 2021 winners special,” suggests Sarah. “Start gathering evidence and taking photos of things you do and storing them in a folder.” “I found digging out and finding things the most time-consuming thing first-time around and it was so much easier as a second-time entrant as I was organised.” “Our best advice is to just enter, and if you don’t win first time don’t give up, re-enter as you will learn just as much second time round!” The Awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac, DeLaval, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda Motorcycles, LIC, Meridian Energy, and Ravensdown along with
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industry partner DairyNZ. Aidan and Sarah were very grateful for all their prizes. “All the prizes were so amazing, we were blown away with the generosity of the sponsors. “The prizes from the National sponsors were incredible. We received massive credits with Meridian, LIC, Ravensdown, a Honda Quad bike, Delaval, Federated Farmers, a Fonterra tool chest, cash from Dairy NZ, Ecolab dairy shed product, and the Westpac Hotpoints bought us a fab holiday!” Sarah and Aidan are active on social media and have a dedicated Facebook page that shows highlights of daily life on their farm,
“We highly recommend the Awards programme, there is so much learning to be gained,” they say. “Not only are there friends and connections to be made, the growth opportunities are endless!” Sarah and Aidan found the experience of being involved with the Awards so much more rewarding than they expected. “Everybody tells you before you enter that you will learn so much about your business. We doubted we could learn much more about our business as we had been farming the same farm for seven years so what more could there be to learn? We were so wrong. “We learnt a lot about what each other actually does on farm,” they say. We take what each other’s roles are for granted – that we do what we do and it makes everything tick over – so to get a really good understanding of what each other actually does was amazing.”