Katikati plays host to orchard tours
An innovative tourism business located in Katikati, is breaking new ground by offering tours of a working avocado orchard.
The couple were the major winners at the 2015 Bay of Plenty Dairy Industry Awards held in Whakatane last Tuesday. The other big winners were Jodie Mexted, the Bay of Plenty Farm Manager of the Year, and Jeff White, the region’s Dairy Trainee of the Year.
The Thomsons, who won $10,100 in prizes, are 50% sharemilking (with a silent partner) 420 cows for Tom and Tony Trafford at Opotiki.
This was their second entry. “We have developed a lot of new skills from the feedback we received last year to improve our farming business. We also gained a lot more self-confidence and are sure it helped us get a good job.”
The couple are buying out the silent partner and begin a 400-cow 50% position at Kiwitahi, near Morrinsville, in June.
Aged 30 and 27, they have been in the industry since Grant gained a Dairy Certificate and Farm Management Certificate from Telford Rural Polytechnic. “One of our strengths is that we run a low-cost system which helps us to repay debt quickly so that we can make the next move.”
Their long-term goal is farm ownership in 10 years.
Te Puke 50% sharemilkers Jeff and Ryn Going were second and third place went to Whakatane lower order sharemilkers Bevan and Lyndell Jones.
The 2015 Bay of Plenty Farm Manager of the Year, Jodie Mexted (29), never thought she would be a dairy farmer despite growing up on a dairy farm. “I didn’t realise what an awesome industry it was until I gave it a go and got involved.”
She was runner-up in the region’s 2014 trainee competition and has won $5800 in prizes.
Mexted graduated Bachelor of Hospitality and Tourist Management at Otago University and travelled before returning to work for her parents, Michael and Linda Mexted, on their Whakatane farm.
In three years she has progressed to managing the 530-cow farm. She says the farm is well set-up, with good infrastructure and comforts that make it pleasant to work on. “We also seek support from rural professionals, attend field days and undertake courses to help further develop us and the business.”
Mexted aims to improve her business skills through courses to prepare for sharemilking.
Second in the farm manager contest were Te Puke contract milkers Luther and Jessica Siemelink. Whakatane contract milkers Glen and Donna Sparrow won third.
The 2015 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year, Jeff White, left his own landscaping business in Auckland in 2013 to start afresh in the dairy industry.
It was a risky move, as White (29), who has a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, had only ever set foot on a dairy farm once during a high school geography trip. But now he is on the industry’s career fast-track after winning the trainee title and $4550 in prizes.
His goal is to go 50% sharemilking 320 cows in the region. “One of my strengths is my innovation; I’m always looking to use the newest and best technologies available.”
Te Puke assistant manager Andrew Cameron won second in the trainee competition and Whakatane 2IC Adam Barkla was third.
Bay of Plenty Sharemilker/Equity Farmers of the Year, Grant and Karley Thomson, will host a field day on March 25, while Farm Manager of the Year, Jodie Mexted, will host a field day on the Whakatane farm she manages on March 18.
