Their efforts were rewarded when on Saturday night they were named the Share Farmers of the Year.
Gerard Boerjan from Hawke’s Bay-Wairarapa is Dairy Manager of the Year and Simone Smail from Southland is Dairy Trainee of the Year.
The judges said the Duncans are passionate, professional and committed.
“They are a friendly, outgoing couple who are working on an exceptionally challenging farm.
“They epitomise living the dream. They left secure jobs as registered valuers and made the career change to dairy farming and they’re excelling at it. They’re the complete package.”
“Nothing has come easy for them, they’ve had to work hard” head judge Kevin McKinley of DairyNZ said.
“When they first began their career they sought out employers that they thought would be good mentors and role models for them. They’ve looked for opportunities where people are considered important.”
The Duncans are 50:50 sharemilkers for the Pouto Topu A Trust milking 1020 cows on the 460ha Pouto property. Both Dan and Gina, aged 32, have applied sciences degrees majoring in rural valuation and management, with Dan having a double major including agriculture.
“They have clear, realistic but challenging goals.
“Dan and Gina had written a long-term plan on future strategies to improve the property, which they presented to the farm owners. They called it the Farm Prosperity Report and it encompassed sustainability strategies and solutions to drive the property forward. They had also successfully applied for grants to secure funds for planting on the property.”
Their strengths in pasture and financial management also won them three merit awards, the PrimaryITO Interview Award, the Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award and the Westpac Business Performance Award.
“A good example of their pasture management is a comparison report on what quantities a cow would need to eat in kikuya grass versus ryegrass to receive enough energy to make milk. It just made it real,” judge Matt Richards said.
“They had calculated all their KPIs of their pasture and they were benchmarking with the rest of Northland and picked appropriate benchmarks to compare themselves with.
“They have a good work life balance. They still work hard but they find the time to pursue interests off-farm such as sport and time with family and friends,” McKinley said.
Dairy manager head judge Mary Craw, from Marton, said Boerjan targets excellence in everything he is involved with.
“He has great experience as a manger of people and a great passion for working with people in a large team environment.”
The judges said he has excellent attention to detail and is an all-rounder.
“He takes a systems approach to the way he manages the farm, he has good systems in place to ensure nothing gets through the gaps,” judge Mark Shadwick from DairyNZ said.
“Everything is well documented, he covers health and safety to an exceptional level and his financial understanding is of the highest calibre.”
Boerjan, 50 years, has successfully farmed in Portugal and Brazil and is farm manager for Trevor Hamilton on his 553ha Takapau property.
He also won the DairyNZ Employee Engagement and the Westpac Financial Management and Planning merit awards.
“Gerard is a stand-alone manager and he doesn’t just assume things are getting done, he closely monitors things. He regularly reviews the information he gets against onfarm targets,” judge Dave Hutchison from Westpac said.
“He’s always monitoring multiple systems to report back to the farm owners and has good procedures in place to do so.
“Gerard possesses the ability to manage a large, complex business with an absentee owner. Every detail of the farm is closely monitored but there’s a real human touch to it.
“He really cares about his staff, he cares about the people, the environment, his cows, what he grows and how he grows it but he also understands very clearly that it’s a business he is running and he showed us that.”
“Gerard and his partner Marlene are a strong team and she supports him completely,” Craw said.
“He has consciously chosen to pursue a career long-term in management rather than farm ownership or contract milking.”
Smail has a quiet confidence and is sincere, Dairy Trainee head judge Chris Withy said.
“She is an excellent example of someone who hasn’t grown up in a farming environment but has developed an obvious love of the land and of the stock that she works with.
“Simone is an example that anyone can go dairying and succeed if they work hard.
Smail, aged 24, also won the DeLaval Communication and Engagement Award. She is herd manager on an Invercargill City Council farm, working for Steve and Tracy Henderson on the 780-cow, 310ha property at Invercargill.
While she was studying for her Certificate in Veterinary Nursing she discovered her passion for working with cows.
Results
2018 Share Farmer of the Year
Winner: Daniel and Gina Duncan, Northland
Runner-up: Chris and Sally Guy, Auckland-Hauraki
Third: Steve Gillies and Amy Johnson, Waikato
DairyNZ Human Resources Award: Simon and Hilary Vallely
Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award: Chris and Sally Guy
Federated Farmers Leadership Award: Steve Gillies and Amy Johnson
Honda Farm Safety and Health Award: Tim and Melissa Parsons
LIC Recording and Productivity Award: Richard and Wendy Ridd
Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award: Thomas and Jennifer Read
PrimaryITO Interview Award: Daniel and Gina Duncan
Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award: Daniel and Gina Duncan
Westpac Business Performance Award: Daniel and Gina Duncan
Dairy Manager of the Year
Winner: Gerard Boerjan, Hawkes Bay-Wairarapa
Runner-up: Will Green, Canterbury-North Otago
Third: Jaime McCrostie, Southland
DairyNZ Employee Engagement Award: Gerard Boerjan
DeLaval Livestock Management Award: Colin Tremain
Fonterra Farm Source Dairy Management Award: Anthony Lamborn
LIC Interview Award: Anthony Lamborn
Meridan Energy Leadership Award: Sam Moscrip
PrimaryITO Power Play Award: Jaime McCrostie
Ravensdown Feed Management Award: Will Green
Westpac Financial Management & Planning Award: Gerard Boerjan
Dairy Trainee of the Year
Winner:Simone Smail, Southland-Otago
Runner-up: Donna McKinley, Central Plateau
Third: Quinn Youngman, Auckland-Hauraki
DairyNZ Practical Skills Award: Andrew Trolove
DeLaval Communication and Engagement Award: Simone Smail
Best Video Award presented by Streamliner: Donna McKinley
