The couple, who farm near Rotorua, had two sharemilking jobs when they won the competition and secured a third later that year,
which they held for three years.
In 2001 they bought their own 660-cow farm and six years ago bought a 700-cow farm at Kaharoa, as two-thirds equity partners.
They gave up their second sharemilking job about five years ago, allowing their manager to buy the cows and make her step up to sharemilking, but Mark and Donna still sharemilk the family trust farm.
This year they sold a 300-cow farm which they’d bought about four years ago and this June will take possession of a 400ha farm at Patoka. One of their managers will take on an equity management role on that farm.
Donna said the competition helped boost their confidence in what they were doing at that time.
“We hadn’t benchmarked ourselves against anyone else back then and we weren’t wholly sure whether we were doing a good job or not,” she said.
The win also gave them good credibility with the bank allowing them to take opportunities and keep growing their business.
