Three years ago, after an immunity illness put him in hospital, he was listening to well-intentioned advice that he try a less physical occupation.
“People were saying I should look at other options and I did consider digger driving and landscaping but at the end of the day I love it,” he said.
“Aimee (they married 14 months ago) said I wouldn’t be happy if I wasn’t farming … and I agreed. She said ‘get on with it and everything will work out’. It has.”
But the future had been a lot less certain for the experienced farm manager with a Diploma in Farm Management from Lincoln University and several years of working on farms in England and Ireland. When he was in hospital for a month he had to turn down a lower-order sharemilking contract.
Instead Simon, 28, and Aimee, a police constable, were grateful to be able to live on the Paeroa dairy farm of his uncle Walter Tye. This was where Simon experienced the farming lifestyle and was able to gradually work his way to full recovery.
Ngatea farmer Richard Townshend offered Simon the task of managing three dairy support blocks and that led to him contract milking 250 high Breeding Worth cows for Richard’s father Gary and his wife Barbara at Ngatea.
“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,” Simon said about the competition.
“I strive to do the best I can for the farm owner and work hard to make sure the farm is sustainable for the future. Everything on our farm is done as it should be done.”
His plan is to go 50:50 sharemilking in 18 months with 250 cows, build to a 450-cow contract, be among the top quartile of sharemilkers for milk production and profit and eventually own a farm.
“There’s no holding us back,” he said.
He competed in last year’s Northern Waikato final of the Young Farmer contest and is also involved in the Hauraki Young Farmers Club, Hauraki North rugby, twilight cricket, golf, mixed netball, fishing, diving and wakeboarding.
He wants to offer students from a Hauraki Plains farm training programme regular onfarm experience that builds confidence, and he also supports onfarm vet days.
He also won the Fonterra Best Practice Award, Primary ITO Human Resource Management Award, Westpac Financial Planning and Management Award. The runner-up was Jason Moore of Thames, Michael Allison and Monique Wightman of Rotowaro won the Bell Booth Leadership Award while Luke Dean of Ngatea won the RD1 Farm Management Award.
