Nathan, 26, his wife Rebecca and their two-year-old daughter Stella, were looking for a fresh start and by chance were given an opportunity to go dairy farming at Matamata.
Now in his third season milking 480 cows for Cameron and Lynne Houghton, he has no desire to go back to his old trade, he said. The support within the industry, from discussion groups to educational resources was exceptional. He has completed several Primary ITO courses and will start the National Diploma in Agribusiness Management this year.
“I love the industry – how fast you can learn and how you can control your progress. We’ve decided this is what we are doing and it’s head down, bum up.”
Nathan worked alongside his farm owner for the past three seasons, but this year would be managing with one fulltime staff member, he said.
The young couple have started investing in stock to build equity. If they stuck to budget they should be able to go 50:50 sharemilking with 250 cows in the 2016-17 season, he said.
Second place went to Putaruru second in charge (2IC) Rosie Simmonds, who also won the Dairy Exporter Leadership Award. Te Rauamoa 2IC, Benji Gillespie, was third and also took out the Dairy Production Systems Farming Knowledge Award and the DairyNZ Practical Skills Award.
