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.
The Costars 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, and they placed 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,” they said.
“It ultimately leads to running a more efficient, compliant and profitable business.”
Bryce, 49, began sharemilking in 1986 and married Rosemarie, 42, in 2004.
The couple purchased a 43 hectare 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 also aim 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.”
Ngatea 50:50 sharemilkers Evan and Jan Billington were runners-up in the contest, winning $10,780 in prizes.
Third place went to Thames 50:50 sharemilkers Mathew and Jemma Morrissey, winning $5100.
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,” he said.
“I thought it would be a good opportunity to do that.”
Player, 28, is contract milking 250 cows for Gary and Barbara Townshend at Ngatea.
He won $11,900 in prizes.
Player has a diploma in farm management and had worked on farms in Canterbury and the UK before moving to the Hauraki Plains.
He said he has a good understanding of farm business finance, through doing farm budgets and GST.
His goal was 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.
Reynolds, 25, was also training to climb Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania later this year.
She had 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 planned to continue progressing up the dairy industry ladder through managing and sharemilking to ownership.
After placing third in the contest last year, Reynolds said 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,” she said.
“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.
The Costars will host a field day on April 15, while 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 and Jan Billington
Nick Hoogeveen and Associates Strategic Planning Award – Mathew and Jemma Morrissey
DairyNZ Human Resources Award – Evan and Jan Billington
Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award – Bryce and Rosemarie Costar
Federated Farmers of New Zealand Leadership Award – Bryce and Rosemarie Costar
Honda Farm Safety and Health Award – Evan and Jan Billington
LIC Recording and Productivity Award – Bryce and Rosemarie Costar
Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award – Bryce and Rosemarie Costar
Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award – Evan and Jan Billington
Triplejump Risk Management Award – Bryce and Rosemarie Costar
Westpac Business Performance Award – Bryce and Rosemarie Costar
Farm Manager Merit Awards:
Bell Booth Leadership Award – Michael Allison and 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 and Grundfos Pumps NZ Leadership Award – Ruan Oberholzer
DairyNZ Practical Skills Award – Matthew Smith
