First-Farm Buyers Braden and Brigitte Barnes Secure Ownership with Award Support
Braden and Brigitte Barnes have taken the leap into farm ownership to purchase their first farm with support from the Fonterra & ASB First Farm Award.
“He has great experience as a manger of people and a great passion for working with people in a large team environment,” dairy manager head judge Mary Craw says.
“He takes a systems approach to the way he manages the farm and has good systems in place to ensure nothing gets through the gaps.
“Everything is well documented, he covers health and safety to an exceptional level and his financial understanding is of the highest calibre.”
Boerjan (50) has successfully farmed in Portugal and Brazil and is now farm manager for Trevor Hamilton on his 553ha Takapau property. He won $22,600 in cash and prizes and won the DairyNZ Employee Engagement and the Westpac Financial Management and Planning merit awards.
The judges say Boerjan is a stand-alone manager who doesn’t just assume things are getting done; he closely monitors things.
“He regularly reviews the information he gets against onfarm targets.
“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.”
