Auckland Hauraki Dairy Winners Dominant

Auckland Hauraki Dairy Winners Dominant

The major winners in the 2014 Auckland Hauraki Dairy Industry Awards, Bryce and Rosemarie Costar, have well achievable goals to keep them focused and heading in the right direction.

The Onewhero couple were named the region’s Sharemilker/Equity Farmers of the Year at an awards dinner in Pukekohe last night . Ngatea contract milker Simon Player was named the 2014 Auckland Hauraki Farm Manager of the Year and Paeroa dairy farm assistant Marion Reynolds won the region’s Dairy Trainee of the Year title.

Bryce and Rosemarie Costar are 55% sharemilking 300 cows on a family farm owned by Bill Costar. They won $20,200 in prizes.

It was the third time they had entered the awards, placing third last year.

“The awards give you a much stronger understanding of what drives your business and what areas you do well and what you could improve on. It ultimately leads to running a more efficient, compliant and profitable business.”

Mr Costar, aged 49 years, began sharemilking in 1986 and married Rosemarie, aged 42, in 2004. The couple has since purchased a 43ha runoff they plan to develop. They also plan to extend the milking platform to help achieve their goal of farm ownership.

As they have a high genetic herd, they have another goal to breed a bull calf for LIC’s Premier Sires team. “Having a high genetic herd gives greater productivity and efficiency and also offers opportunities to sell surplus replacements at a premium.”

The Costars were dominant winners in the awards, collecting six of the 11 merit awards on offer.

Ngatea 50% sharemilkers Evan and Jan Billington were runners-up in the sharemilker/equity farmer contest, winning $10,780 in prizes. Third place went to Thames 50% sharemilkers Mathew and Jemma Morrissey, winning $5100.

The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda Motorcycles NZ, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown, RD1 and Triplejump, along with industry partner Primary ITO.

The winner of the 2014 Auckland Hauraki Farm Manager of the Year, Simon Player, entered the awards for the first time to have his farming practices analysed.

“I wanted to get some feedback about my business and how I am doing and how I can improve. I thought it would be a good opportunity to do that.”

The 28-year-old is contract milking 250 cows for Gary and Barbara Townshend at Ngatea. He won $11,900 in prizes.

Mr Player has a Diploma in Farm Management and has worked on farms in Canterbury and the UK before moving to the Hauraki Plains.

He says he has a good understanding of farm business finance, through doing farm budgets and GST. “I also think I have a hard work ethic and strive to do the best job possible.”

His goal is to take up a 50% sharemilking position by 2015 and to grow his sharemilking business to achieve farm ownership.

The runner-up in the region’s farm manager contest was Thames farm manager Jason Moore, who took home $3100 in prizes.

The sole driver and goal of 2014 Auckland Hauraki Dairy Trainee of the Year, Marion Reynolds, is to own her own farm. The focused 25-year-old is also training to climb Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania later this year.

Miss Reynolds has been an assistant on Mark and Rachel Barker’s 380-cow Paeroa farm since graduating from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science in 2011. She won $5660 in prizes.

To achieve her goal, she is moving to a management role on the same farm next season. She plans to continue progressing up the dairy industry ladder through managing and sharemilking to ownership.

After placing third in the contest last year, Miss Reynolds says the awards proved to be a great way to test her ability and meet other motivated farmers.

“The awards night last year provided some excellent examples of how to progress through the industry and proved to me that I could do it too. The level of positivity in the room was just awesome!”

Second place in the dairy trainee contest went to Waiuku herd manager James Manusauloa, who won $1400. Thames assistant manager Leighton Coombe was third, winning $800.

Auckland Hauraki Sharemilker/Equity Farmers of the Year, Bryce and Rosemarie Costar, will host a field day on April 15, while Farm Manager of the Year, Simon Player, will host a field day on the Ngatea farm he manages on April 8. Further details on the winners and field days can be found on www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz.

Sharemilker/Equity Farmer Merit Awards:
• BlackmanSpargo Legal Audit Award - Evan & Jan Billington
• Nick Hoogeveen & Associates Strategic Planning Award - Mathew & Jemma Morrissey
• DairyNZ Human Resources Award – Evan & Jan Billington
• Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award – Bryce & Rosemarie Costar
• Federated Farmers of New Zealand Leadership Award – Bryce & Rosemarie Costar
• Honda Farm Safety and Health Award – Evan & Jan Billington
• LIC Recording and Productivity Award – Bryce & Rosemarie Costar
• Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award – Bryce & Rosemarie Costar
• Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award – Evan & Jan Billington
• Triplejump Risk Management Award – Bryce & Rosemarie Costar
• Westpac Business Performance Award – Bryce & Rosemarie Costar

Farm Manager Merit Awards:
• Bell Booth Leadership Award - Michael Allison & Monique Wightman
• Fonterra Best Practice Award – Simon Player
• Primary ITO Human Resource Management Award – Simon Player
• RD1 Farm Management Award – Luke Dean
• Westpac Financial Planning and Management Award – Simon Player

Dairy Trainee Merit Awards:
• Franklin Vets Farming Knowledge Merit Award – Marion Reynolds
• Paeroa Farm Services & Grundfos Pumps NZ Leadership Award - Ruan Oberholzer
• DairyNZ Practical Skills Award – Matthew Smith

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