Sophia Clark, pictured, with her partner Aaron Mills, are the region’s Share Farmers of the Year.
Sophia Clark, pictured, with her partner Aaron Mills, are the region’s Share Farmers of the Year.
The major winners in the 2024 Bay of Plenty Dairy Industry Awards, Sophia Clark and Aaron Mills, say they love their cows and are enjoying their journey in the dairy industry.
The couple was named winner of the region’s Share Farmer of the Year category at the Bay of Plenty Dairy Industry Awards annual awards dinner last Friday.
The other big winners were George King, named the 2024 Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager of the Year, and Luke Feisst, the 2024 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year.
Sophia and Aaron cite their family and creating a future for their children as motivators. “Our vision is ‘enjoying the journey’ which means enjoying our cows and enjoying what we do.”
The couple are 50/50 sharemilking for Bernie Hermann on his 160ha, 540-cow Te Puke farm. They won $13,775 in prizes and four merit awards.
Sophia and Aaron say entering the awards previously gave them an opportunity to benchmark their business, not become complacent about costs and encouraged them to do a deep dive into their farm as a whole.
“We see the future of dairying as very exciting with farm ownership on the horizon for us,” they say. “We’re proud to be 35-year-olds in control of a multi-million dollar asset and that we have built equity from nothing.”
The couple would like to see some older farm owners change their mindset to help retain young people in the industry.
“We’ve been given so much mentorship and assistance into our first herd from a large-scale business, and we will be forever grateful.
“I wish I could show young students studying business that dairy is a viable option and sharemilking is a viable framework for building an asset,” says Sophia, who holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture) from Lincoln University.
Future farming goals include debt repayment, farm ownership and continuing to enjoy farming.
Lindsay Williams was named runner-up in the 2024 Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager category and won $3600 and two merit awards.
Lindsay works for Cameron Dairy Farms Ltd on the 118ha, 330-cow property at Te Puke.
The 31-year-old placed third in the same category in 2023 and cites that placing as a massive achievement.
Lindsay says entering the awards programme has many benefits including increasing his general industry knowledge and gaining a better understanding of the farm and different farming systems.
“As I’ve become more involved with the industry awards, I’ve become more involved in the industry and it has pushed me to go beyond what I thought was possible,” he says.
2024 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year, Luke Feisst.
Luke Feisst was named the 2024 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year and won $7375 in prizes and two merit awards.
The first-time entrant wanted to build his connections and benchmark his abilities while gauging his trajectory within the industry.
The 26-year-old is assistant manager on Doug Paul’s 114ha, 350-cow property at Te Puke.
“I also enjoy the social aspects and networking it allowed.”
Luke entered the industry as a farm assistant in 2021 and chose farming as his career path due to work events at the time.
“Social media was largely campaigning against farming in general, using poor examples of a minority of farmers,” he says. “This inspired me to be the change I wanted to see and adjust the perspective of farming.”
Prior to this, Luke had begun his own business as a wholesale supplier of foliage to the florist industry.
Luke believes advances in simple and efficient technology and horticulture variations allow farmers to preserve the land.
“I see myself fitting in by pursuing opportunities and hope to be a supportive and constructive member of the farming community.”
The Bay of Plenty Dairy Industry Awards winners field day will be held on April 3 at 79 Roydon Downs Rd, Paengaroa where Sophia and Aaron are sharemilking. Also presenting at the field day will be the region’s Dairy Manager of the Year, George King and Dairy Trainee of the Year, Luke Feisst.
