Dairy Awards Trainees Begin Tour
Dairy Awards Trainees Begin Tour
The 11 finalists in the 2015 New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year competition begin a three-day study tour of the Central Plateau and Waikato today, where they will visit award-winning farmers and gain a greater insight into the dairy industry.
“The trainee study tour has quickly gathered a reputation for enabling the trainees to see what is possible to achieve in the industry with the right attitude and aptitude,” national convenor Chris Keeping says.
“It really focuses them on their own career, what they need to do and who can assist them. The dairy industry has a great co-operative spirit with people willing to share knowledge and assist others to achieve their goals. That’s really what the study tour is all about.”
The winner of
the dairy trainee contest will be announced at the 2015 New
Zealand Dairy Industry Awards national awards dinner in
Auckland on Saturday night Mrs
Keeping says the study tour kicks off in Rotorua today, with
the trainees participating in an on-farm practical session
that is part of the competition. During the tour they will
visit a Landcorp farm, be hosted on the farms of past dairy
awards winners, visit LIC’s headquarters and bull farm,
and tour a robotic farm near Hamilton. They will have a
health check and also meet and hear from a range of industry
representatives on how to achieve goals, including former
Fonterra Director Jim van der Poel and Taranaki-King Country
MP Barbara Kuriger – both also past regional Sharemilker
of the Year winners.
The 11 finalists include just one
female – 23-year-old Grace Stephenson representing the
Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa region – and range in age from 21
years to 31 years. They are working on farms with herds
ranging from 205 cows to 1400 cows. “One of the amazing
statistics among the group is that eight have changed
careers to start over in the dairy industry – that’s a
whopping 72%.” Ms Keeping says the trainees have
backgrounds in building, the timber and meat industries,
plumbing, landscaping, construction, agriculture engineering
and drain laying. It is the first season in the dairy
industry for Waikato representative Brett Steeghs, aged 26
years, while Canterbury/North Otago’s representative James
Davidson, also 26 years old, has worked on farms in Ireland,
Australia and England after completing University
studies. The study tour ends in Auckland on Thursday
night. The final component of the contest’s judging, an
interview, takes place on Friday. The New Zealand Dairy
Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac,
DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda
Motorcycles, LIC, Meridian Energy, New Zealand Farm Source,
Ravensdown, and Triplejump, along with industry partner
Primary ITO. Further information on all finalists can be
found at www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz. The
2015 New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year finalists
are: • Northland, Mike Jensen, 2IC 500
cows, Waipapa • Auckland/Hauraki, Royce King,
2IC 530 cows, Paeroa • Waikato, Brett Steeghs,
farm assistant 420 cows, Horahora • Bay of
Plenty, Jeff White, 2IC 620 cows, Pongakawa •
Central Plateau, Gerard van der Mark, 2IC 900 cows,
Mangakino • Manawatu, Blake Moore, 2IC 750 cows,
Opiki • Taranaki, Michael McCombs, assistant
manager, 220 cows, Patea • Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa,
Grace Stephenson, 2IC 205 cows, Dannevirke •
West Coast/Top of the South, Danny Mitchell, farm assistant
400 cows, Koromiko • Canterbury/North Otago,
James Davidson, farm assistant 1400 cows, Darfield •
Southland/Otago, Jeremy Anderson, 2IC 940 cows,
Otautau.
ENDS