The couple met at Paeroa College then 10 years later crossed paths at Mount Manuganui where Jared was working as a plumber and Sara a chef. Being in a settled relationship, Jared felt it was time to live out his dream of becoming a successful dairy farmer like his parents.
He secured a second in charge job on a Waikato dairy farm with Sara working as a farm assistant on the same property. The gamble paid off with Jared coming third in the 2011 Waikato Dairy Trainee of the Year competition. Two years later the couple shifted south to manage an 800-cow farm at Waimumu near Gore.
In June 2013 they moved to a new conversion, Waipounamu Dairies, at Riversdale in northern Southland milking 750 cows. A second pivot on the farm and further regrassing will allow numbers to expand to 950 this coming season.
Farm owners Roger and Tracey Miller had converted their sheep farm and employed Jared and Sara to show them the ropes.
Entering and winning the manager’s award, the Crawfords said, was a necessary part of their progression from manager to contract milkers in the 2015-16 season and to 50:50 sharemilkers two years afterwards.
“There are so many people going for contract milking jobs in Southland, we’ve heard of up to 50 for some, so we have to be the best we can be when we go looking for one next year,” Jared said.
“We have to be very goal-orientated to get where we want to go and that’s what’s great about the Dairy Industry Awards, it gets our name out there and sets us apart from the rest,” Sara said.
Both have completed AgITO and DairyNZ Biz Start courses and their first investment in the industry will be the purchase of 50 in-calf heifers this month.
“We have looked at other forms of investment to get us ahead but this outweighed everything else,” Jared said.
The heifers will be leased to the Millers and milked in the herd. As part of their contract they also get 15 heifer calves each season, further building numbers and equity.
They do not regret the shift south.
“This is where the big jobs are, and better opportunities. I look back at my mates who are still in Waikato and they’re farming deserts at the moment.”
For Sara, the big plus is the Riversdale community.
Going to a new conversion allowed Jared to develop and implement his own policies onfarm.
“With the owners not dairy farmers, I really focused on getting policies in place so everything was done correctly, right from the start. It’s been a pretty wicked year to convert, with the weather being great and the payout.”
Jared also won the McIntyre Dick and Partners Leadership Award and the Fonterra Best Practice Award.
Woodlands contract milkers Callum Stalker and Hanna Barley came second, also winning the Westpac Financial Planning and Management Award. Third place went to Aparima contract milkers Hadleigh and Jolene Germann, who also won the Primary ITO Human Resource Management Award and the RD1 Farm Management Award.
Esmerelda and Michael Duffin, contract milkers at Otautau, won the Bell Booth-Claude Wuest Memorial Encouragement Award.
