Kate Dawson recently won Share Farmer of the Year at the Manawatū Dairy Industry Awards. Photo / Eva de Jong
Kate Dawson recently won Share Farmer of the Year at the Manawatū Dairy Industry Awards. Photo / Eva de Jong
A Hunterville farmer, who recently won Share Farmer of the Year at the Manawatū Dairy Industry Awards, is chasing a sustainable vision for her family’s dairy farm.
Contract milker Kate Dawson grew up helping her dad on their family’s 300-cow, 120ha dairy farm near Marton.
“I always knew I wanted to own this farm, but I wanted to go off and do other things before I took it on,” the 29-year-old said.
After studying a Bachelor of Commerce and Agriculture at Lincoln University, travelling and working in multiple jobs such as shepherding, Dawson returned to the farm as a farm assistant and then moved into contract milking.
Dawson was recognised at the region’s annual awards in Palmerston North with $8671 in prizes and four merit awards.
She has successfully lowered the farm’s empty rate - cows who aren’t producing milk - from 20% to 10%, increased milk solids production, and improved nitrate conversion efficiency.
Currently, she is working towards her dream of taking over the dairy farm through a 10-year-plan to achieve farm ownership.
Together with her partner Roddy Crowley, Dawson’s aim is to get the farm’s cows into the top 5% of New Zealand’s breeding worth (BW).
“That means we can have less cows, and in turn will be helping the environment.”
She wants to focus on breeding higher-performing cows to create a better conversion rate for milk production and lower the greenhouse gas emissions on the farm.
Lowering the farm’s empty rate helps.
“That gives us wiggle room to send those empty cows and our low BW cows off farm, and that’s a step towards getting higher BW cows on farm which are the better converters of feed.
“That’s the plan. To have our top-producing cows and single-sex them, so we’ll be getting our replacements from our best cows.”
Mark (from left) and Karen Dawson with daughter Kate on their family-owned dairy farm in Hunterville. Photo / Eva de Jong
But Dawson isn’t just focusing on genetics to improve the farm’s environmental footprint, she is also bettering the pasture and effluent management practices on-site.
To re-sow paddocks on the farm they have been using a plantain and clover mix to reduce nitrogen leaching, and have worked to keep calves off hills in winter to avoid erosion and soil wash-off.
Her parents are similarly environmentally conscious and worked to fence off the waterways on their farm years before it was made a requirement.
For Dawson, the most enjoyable part of dairy farming is the strategic side of responding to the needs of the cows from their results recorded in the milk vat.
“I get most stressed when the cows aren’t performing well, because I wonder if I’m not feeding them enough, or if they’re hungry or sick.
“I think that’s a confidence thing though, which I’ll grow into more, and just knowing you can get through any situation.”
She hopes to continue reducing the farm’s net emissions.
“The public has a perception of dairy farming which is probably a little bit negative, but if I open up my farm and show them what I’m doing it could change that,” she said.
“If you’re looking after your animals and pasture in the right way, it will help the environment.”
Dawson is currently preparing for the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards in May with regional winners competing for the top spots at the national competition.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.
