Kieran Scannell, on the Pahiatua farm where he has been working and training in dairy farming. Kieran was named Trainee of the Year at the 2024 Hawke's Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Industry Awards.
Kieran Scannell, on the Pahiatua farm where he has been working and training in dairy farming. Kieran was named Trainee of the Year at the 2024 Hawke's Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Industry Awards.
To say Kieran Scannell was surprised to be named 2024 Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Industry Awards Trainee of the Year might be an understatement.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” he says.
As part of the awards, Scannell had to do a skills day which tested his basic farm knowledge such as shed hygiene, animal husbandry and feed budgets.
Kieran Scannell at the 2024 Hawke's Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Industry Awards.
The group of entrants in the awards were interviewed by industry professionals, and asked about their backgrounds, goals and achievements as well as how to get the industry involved with “city people”.
But he felt he hadn’t done that well in the interview, telling his co-workers on the 323ha 970 cow farm in Pahiatua that he felt he hadn’t been farming long enough.
There’s always plenty to do on the farm.
“Everything going on all at once.
“One day’s not the same the next day,” he adds, saying he gets the opportunity to explore different roles around the farm.
Kieran Scannell didn't have a background in farming and was stunned to be named Trainee of the Year at the 2024 Hawke's Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Industry Awards.
Scannell has been farming for less than two years and decided to enter the awards to “get the feel for it”.
He felt it was a good way to get feedback, not only in areas where he could improve, but also in what he did well.
He was studying for a degree in science at Massey University where he was majoring in ecology, which focused on the environment and plants.
He then joined his partner on a farm in Ballance.
“I’ve got no background in dairy farming at all. My partner grew up in dairy farming.”
He says she asked him if he wanted to come farming.
“I love it, thrived in it, so I carried on and set myself some plans for the future.”
When he first started, there were terms he was unfamiliar with and working with the livestock had been a shock at first.
Scannell says he’s been doing pasture management and soil management as part of level three Primary ITO, and it’s similar to what he was studying at university.
He believes New Zealand has a good reputation for the dairy industry.
“It is nice to see that we are still striving to reach new levels for the improvement of the business end, but also still focusing on the wellbeing of the environment.”
Scannell and his partner are busy making plans for the future, with the possibility of going sharemilking.
The winners in the Dairy NZ awards were:
Share Farmer Merit Awards:
DairyNZ – People and Culture Award, Ximena Puig & Alvaro Luzardo
Ecolab Total Farm Hygiene Award, Chaminda & Thilanka Wijesooriya
