From the initial year at Okato, Brendon moved to a 350-cow farm with a 25 per cent share milking contract at Kaiwaka, Northland.
Over the next three years he quickly learned how to manage livestock and pasture in extreme conditions - very hot summers followed by very wet winters.
After two years at Kaiwaka, Brendon moved to manage a bigger herd contract milking 700 cows at Mangawai Heads, and where he met Rebecca.
The time spent in Northland on both farms was challenging, he says. "It was a frightening eye-opener for us but we had so much support and we learnt a huge amount.
"It was such dry land to farm on that I had to develop my skills of pasture management.
"When I think back it was those skills I learnt that have probably helped me be the farmer I am now."
With each move came another step for the couple to progress - the Mangawai Heads farm was the largest he had been involved in to then.
The larger herd number, with maize and palm kernel feed management, topped up with grass and supplement, was a big contrast from one season to the next.
"We made very fast progress in those first years," he says.
The couple spent the following season managing a 1200-cow farm at Tirau and later truck driving and general farm duties near Putaruru before their latest venture contract milking 565 cows for Fonterra on a 215ha farm off State Highway 5, near Reporoa.
"It was an ideal opportunity to grab," says Rebecca.
"We both wanted to be closer to family [Rebecca hails from a Cambridge farming family who have property in Taupo], and it was another step up." They hit the ground running the moment they arrived in Reporoa, they say.
"The challenges haven't subsided but increased," Brendon says.
The couple have two years to run on their current contract.
One full-time staff and two part-time milkers are employed to help but the couple have plenty on their plate - there are budgets to calculate, and pasture management through weekly plate metering feed wedges to measure grass growth, and reporting to Fonterra. Waste from the nearby Fonterra factory is irrigated on the farm.
The opportunity to work with the Fonterra agri-business group has been hugely beneficial.
"We have high metabolic issues on the farm with high potassium and phosphate levels which if not monitored properly can cause milk fever in the spring so we have worked closely with advisers developing a robust mineral plan to help stabilise the levels," says Rebecca.
"I'm better if I'm out on the farm watching everything and using my management skills," Brendon says. "As well the advancement in technology is one of the reasons I got back in the industry ... farming is such a professional business now that you have to be efficient professional managers."
The Central Plateau regional Dairy Industry Awards have attracted 50 entries in the three categories - Dairy Trainee of the Year, Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year, and Farm Manager of the Year.
Following final judging from February 18-20, the regional winners will be announced at the awards dinner on March 2 in Rotorua. The overall national winners will be announced in Auckland on May 2.
