It is proving to be a busy few weeks for Mairi Whittle.
Having won the Golden Gumboot at the Fieldays Rural Catch Competition earlier this month she becomes the fourth generation of her family to run the 6000 stock unit, Makatote Station north east of Taihape at the end of July.
A former rural banker, Whittle, 28, and her family have been working on a succession plan, allowing her parents Jim and Maggie to retire from the hill-country sheep and beef farm.
Whittle said her move to farm ownership is possible only because of those who have supported her and her career change from banking to farming.
Key among those are her parents and Rob Stratton, her employer for the last 20 months, who she said have all patiently taught and refined her farming skills.
They will be her mentors as she moves onto the home farm but Whittle said her parents have told her they want her blaze her own path.
Her time working for Stratton taught her the finer points of pasture management, skills she plans to implement on Makatote.
Whittle said others such as dog trialists and breeders have given freely of their time and advice to help her build up a team of working dogs.
“There are hard-working, humble people working in rural New Zealand and you just can’t beat it.”
While acknowledging she is stepping into the deep end Whittle is excited about running the home farm.
“I am so lucky to have landed in the right places.”
Her Rural Catch victory and $20,000 in prices that came with it, including a new Suzuki King Quad valued at $18,000, was something of a minor distraction as she prepares for farm ownership.
But the prizes will come in handy.
“When they said the motorbike would come in handy – it really will.”
She entered the Rural Catch contest only because some friends decided she was suitable and did all the initial leg work.
“Some friends decided it would be good for me – well it was either this or (reality television show) Married at First Sight.”
Whittle, who says she is still single, decided there was nothing to lose.
It was a quiet time of year, she was keen to have time off the farm and she was going to Fieldays anyway.
The contest format changed this year, from finding the most eligible bachelor to include women and Whittle and three other women lined up along with four men for a week of competition that tested their farming knowledge and ability.
She won.
“What makes me a great catch? I’m not sure.”
A Fieldays spokeswoman said changes to the competition reflected the theme of this year’s Fieldays, the Future of Farming, and the role women play in agriculture.
The tasks were not at Young Farmer of the Year level but included all-terrain vehicle riding skills, stripping a chainsaw, fencing, cooking, fitness and wellbeing, problem solving, dog handling and finance and while she was competent in most, having to complete them in front of people added a new dimension.
The attitude of the contestants was also taken in to account and Whittle said it was a case of continuously smiling.
Born and bred in Taihape, Whittle boarded at Feilding High School for her secondary school education then enrolled at Lincoln University where she got an agricultural commerce degree.
On graduating, she worked for ANZ in Nelson and Marlborough for four years then a year in South Taranaki before heading overseas.
That was to satisfy a travel bug but to also gain farm work experience, which she did in Australia and the United Kingdom.
“They were awesome jobs.
“None paid particularly well but it reiterated that I was not an office girl.”
On returning home she realised she needed further practical farm experience and was fortunate to get a job with Statton.
As she embarks on a new chapter in her life Whittle’s next challenge will be getting her head around new farm management systems.
She intends increasing ewe numbers and mating hoggets to take advantage of high sheep meat prices, add a herd of beef breeding cows and introduce some pasture management skills learnt from Stratton.
“I want to get a really good, simple system in place and then build on that.”
She said her parents worked hard developing Makatote, a quality farm with quality livestock.
“I am extremely grateful for the hard work they have done setting up the farm and developing a good even line of Romney ewes.”
A busy year for Whittle is about to get busier.
“I’m pretty happy the way life has turned out, the icing on the cake being the golden gumboot which will sit on the mantlepiece.”
Dairy farm manager Ben Fisher of Ohaupo finished second to Whittle while the award for Fieldays Rural Catch People’s Choice award went to Lilly Newton of Urenui, Taranaki, who won over the crowd with her sense of humour and good-natured banter.
Before Fieldays started the contestants took part in a two-day Farmlands road trip where they competed in a range of activities at various Farmlands locations with Palmerston North’s Renae Flett winning the Farmlands Choice Award.
