He took out the national dairy trainee of the year award that year and at the time was still pretty new to dairying.
Since then his profile at a national level has meant he’s readily recognised in dairying circles and that’s paid dividends, helping him secure jobs that have meant a steady advance in his farming skills and business growth. After his win he headed overseas for a year but in between the usual travelling escapades spent time looking at grass-based dairying systems in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Thanks in part to his reputation in the competition he managed to secure a job while still overseas as drystock manager and 2IC on a 1600-cow farm in Canterbury for Mark and Pennie Saunders.
Only a few months after he returned he stepped up to farm manager on the farm and he’s still there this season.
He’s recently married DairyNZ consulting officer Erin Sinclair and the couple have 2020 firmly in their sights as the year they want to be in a position to have a share in a large-scale farm.
Nathan says the competition definitely opened up opportunities for him and created a fantastic network of top farmers, rural professionals and experts from companies involved in sponsoring the awards.
It did push him out of his comfort zone when it came to getting out there and talking to people but it’s been to his benefit so now he’s comfortable in most situations.
He and Erin have convened the dairy trainee section of the Canterbury dairy industry awards for the past two years. They love putting something back into the competition and seeing more young people step up to the challenge.
They had close to 30 entrants in the section this year and Nathan’s keen to see those numbers stay high.
Next season the couple take on a farm manager’s role on an 1140-cow farm for Southern Pastures.
Nathan says these days getting to farm ownership is likely to include variations on the traditional vehicles but the networks he’s built through the competition and the skills the couple continue to develop will mean he and Erin are ready to catch them.
