Waikato Dairy awards winners announced

Waikato Dairy Industry Award winners have been announced.

The major winners in the 2018 Waikato Dairy Industry Awards are first-time entrants who saw the awards as an opportunity to obtain an independent assessment of their business and to identify areas to improve.

Steve Gillies and Amy Johnson were announced winners of the region's Share Farmer of the Year competition at the Waikato Dairy Industry Awards annual awards dinner held at the Don Rowlands Centre at Karapiro last month.

The other big winners were Chelsea Smith, who became the 2018 Waikato Dairy Manager of the Year, and Aaron Courage, the 2018 Waikato Dairy Trainee of the Year.

Steve and Amy, both aged 31 years, are Contract Milking 470 cows for Peter and Marian van der Heyden at Putaruru and won $13,750 in prizes.

Their goals are to continue to progress through the industry by obtaining sharemilking positions, and they believe the strengths of their operation lie in the people.

"Steve and I have complimentary skills and supportive farm owners, plus great staff that make the farm an enjoyable work environment," says Amy.

Steve has been in the industry eight years, and was working as a mechanic before moving to New Zealand from Scotland in 2010 and making the career change.

"I'm proud that I've progressed through the industry from farm assistant to contract milker on one farm," he says.

Amy grew up on a farm and holds a Bachelor of Applied Science, majoring in Agriculture. She worked as a DairyNZ consulting officer and is now an AgriManager with ANZ, as well as working with Steve on the farm.

The couple aim to mitigate small challenges before they become big issues and love working with happy, healthy animals. "I didn't choose farming as a career," says Steve. "Farming chose me."

Te Awamutu 50:50 Sharemilkers Will and Kirsten Rolton, aged 33 and 42 respectively, were runners-up.

They work on Kees and Hannie Rombouts 85.5ha, 274-cow farm.

Prior to immigrating to New Zealand in 2010, Will managed dairy and arable in the UK.
"When we came to New Zealand we found learning the new system challenging to learn, but fun at the same time," says Will.

The winner of the Dairy Manager of the Year competition was previously a 'travelling winemaker' who would spend half the year working the grape harvest, then the rest of the year travelling or returning back to New Zealand to the family farm, before she decide to enter the dairy industry full-time in 2015.

Chelsea Smith, who won $8975 in prizes, is farm manager on Steven and Amy Van Der Poel's 250ha farm, milking 1180 cows in Otorohanga.

"I love the variation in dairy farming. I love the support, the growth potential and that everyone wants to help and share their information," says Chelsea.

Dairy Trainee of the Year, Aaron Courage, is a young farmer who is passionate about the dairy industry and would like to progress into a leadership position within the industry in the coming years.

"I would like to breed quality animals that have a positive impact on the industry," says Aaron.

"Currently I'm focused on breeding a bull into the team of premier sires, which I am working towards through quality stock investment and working with other successful breeders." He is also training to be an AB technician.

The 19-year-old is farm assistant for Stewart and Kathryn Anderson on their 146ha, 430-cow property at Otorohanga. He won $6180 in prizes.