South Taranaki farmers Owen Clegg, 26, and Hollie Wham, 25, are a young couple who, despite achieving great things in the industry, give themselves little credit.
Earlier this year they won the 2018 Taranaki Dairy Industry Awards Share Farmer of the Year title. They also won the Honda Farm Safety and Health Award, Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award and the Westpac Business Performance Award.
They said entering the awards enabled them to learn about themselves and how much they actually know.
“We don’t give ourselves enough credit or rate ourselves highly enough,” Hollie said.
“But through the awards process and judging I realised I knew a lot more than I thought I did.”
They also realised they are functioning as a team and business as good as if not better than they expected.
“The awards made us open our eyes and really look at our business. As a result we came to understand how and why we were doing things and confirmed we are on the right track,” Owen said.
“Even in areas where we weren’t strong or believed we weren’t the judges pulled out the facts and figures and showed us what we had achieved and to see it like that was an eye-opener.”
Hollie has not only learnt a lot about their business but also herself and Owen.
“I learnt Owen can’t create a poster board to save himself and presentation is not his forte.
“But one thing we do know is that we work well as a team.”
The couple believe their strength lies in their team approach to business.
“We work together well, regardless of the task. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, when to lend a hand and when to step back,” Owen said.
“We make a good team both outside on the farm and inside doing accounts.”
Hollie agrees and said they always know what the other is doing and have learnt not to interfere – too much.
“Sometimes it is a matter of stepping back, shutting up and having confidence and trust in each other.”
Looking ahead they hope to expand their business and the addition of the second farm is the beginning of that goal.
Eventually, they want to look at an equity partnership or farm ownership of a 250-cow farm and to continue to improve their business efficiency.
“We know our goal is a massive one but we try to work hard and smarter each day to get us one step closer,” Owen said.
“We have strong determination and drive to achieve our goals because we know the end result will be very satisfying.”
Playing squash and golf gives the couple time away from the farm and an opportunity to relax.
“We are both members of the local Young Farmers club and enjoy attending touch rugby games or events,” Hollie said.
With the coast right on their back doorstep Hollie enjoys whitebaiting and fishing but the thought of fish guts makes Owen squeamish.
“It’s funny, Owen can happily calve a cow and not worry about all the yucky stuff but when it comes to fish guts he can’t stand it,” Hollie said.
“We are like Yin and Yang and I guess that is why we make such a great team.”
Farm Facts
Owners: Murray and Edna Saxton
50:50 sharemilkers: Owen Clegg and Hollie Wham
Location: Manutahi, South Taranaki
Farm Size: 70ha, 56ha effective, 8ha runoff
Cows: 180 Friesian/Friesian-cross
Production: 2017-2018 69,500kgMS
Target: 2018-2019 80,000kg MS
Farm working expenses: $2.10/kg MS
