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Winning line-up... Nicholas Bailey, Jaime and Mark Arnold, and Thomas Chatfield.
Despite the low milk price there was a positive vibe among the 33 finalists competing for the NZ Dairy Awards this year.
Awards general manager Chris Keeping says the finalists are looking to progress and grow their equity and position in the industry, "exciting to see and great to witness".
Share farmer head judge and DairyNZ senior consulting officer Abby Scott says the economic climate has prompted finalists to change some practices to ensure they better manage available resources.
"People were focusing on growing grass and supplements within their farm boundary and making sure they used it. And they were more interested in profit per hectare than benchmarking milk production per cow. We also saw innovative ways of reducing costs," Scott says.
"They were all positive about the industry, their business and their equity growth. Their positivity... was infectious. There's no doubt they're in the industry for the long haul."
Share Farmers of the Year Mark and Jaime Arnold are 50% sharemilking 500 cows for Mike and Sherynn Harold and Stuart and Sandra Cordell at Dannevirke. It is their fifth season on the farm and a great relationship with the farm owners led the owners to partner them as they progressed from lower order to 50% sharemilking.
Jaime says their farm operation is all about people.
"We are surrounded by people who have great influences; our staff make us who we are. We call our farm owners our farm partner and appreciate their support."
The Arnolds took a huge pay cut when they launched their dairy farming career eight years ago.
The former logging crew manager and teacher went on a single herd manager's salary when they stepped onto a dairy farm for the first time.
Thomas Chatfield became the 2016 New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year and Nicholas Bailey was announced the 2016 New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year.
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
OPINION: The dairy sector has been told that it cannot afford to rest on its laurels.
The dairy industry cannot rest on its laurels despite providing one in every four export dollars earned by the country, says DairyNZ chief executive Campbell Parker.
Increased competition for water means the whole community is looking at how irrigators use water.
Analysis of decades of research has revealed the implementation of good farming practices plays a critical role in reducing nutrient losses to improve freshwater outcomes.
New Zealand dairy farmers are set to be the first in the world to receive access to a new digital physical milk pricing tool that enables them to fix the price for their physical milk.
State farmer Pāmu is opening its farm gates this summer in an effort to give the rural sector the opportunity to see how large-scale, multi-system farming is delivering productivity and profitability across New Zealand.
A five-year study has found that the cost of reducing emissions without technology may be significant and unsustainable for Northland dairy farmers.
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
While the Government has moved quickly to make commercial hauliers' lot easier during the current fuel crisis, they appear to be stuck in the creep box when it comes to the agricultural industry.
Waikato farmers have been told that the Government’s new planning system legislation and the region’s Plan Change 1 (PC1) “won’t mesh together very well”.
OPINION: No one messes around with Winston Peters, more so in a general election year.
OPINION: Staying on Federated Farmers, this week's annual general meeting in Auckland is shaping up to be an interesting one.
