After two years of second place, the Fraser’s low-cost, low-stress approach earned them the title this year. In their third year of operating the 445-cow, 172ha effective property near Halcombe owned by Des and Marion Webb, the Frasers also won the Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award, the Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award, and the Westpac Business Performance Award.
Pasture management is a focus for the couple.
“We run a grass-based system; the maize we use is more of an insurance policy – it’s fed if we need it,” Duncan said.
About two-thirds of the platform can be irrigated through a mix of centre pivot, K-line and Southern Cross irrigation. To keep a return interval of no greater than 15 days with the Southern Cross irrigator, only 30ha of a potential 50ha is irrigated. Managing pasture is both a science and an art for the Frasers.
Entering the Dairy Industry Awards for the first time three years ago acted as a catalyst for the Frasers, and they started to take more ownership of the financial aspects of their farming business.
“We were happy doing what we were doing, and making money was just a bonus,” Kim said.
“But now we are really driving our business, we’ve tightened up on our monitoring, we’re asking questions – we’re in control.”
For the future, they are targeting investment ventures that will result in year-on-year equity growth of 15% or more. By the end of 2015 they would like to be herd owners, although they’re flexible about how that happens, being open to 50:50 sharemilking, leasing a property, or an equity partnership.
Runner-up was Sanson equity farm manager Aaron Taylor, who also won the Naylor Lawrence and Associates Strategic Planning Award and the Federated Farmers leadership award. Third place went to Ashhurst lower-order sharemilkers Ben and Lizzie Ash, who won the DairyNZ Human Resources Award, the Honda Farm Safety and Health Award and the Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award.
Mat Hocken of Feilding collected the LIC Recording and Productivity Award while Brendan and Lisa Sharland of Rongotea took out the Triplejump Risk Management Award.
