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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.
OPINION: It's no surprise that "world-class biosecurity" continues to dominate as the top priority for agribusiness leaders, holding the number one spot for the 16th consecutive year in KPMG's latest agribusiness report.
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.
Oamaru-based livestock handling specialist Te Pari has bought Combi Clamp, the New Zealand manufacturer of Combi Clamp manual sheep handlers.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has admitted that a scheme bringing workers from Pacific nations to work on orchards has become too hard to navigate but says changes are coming.
A new app designed in New Zealand aims to help sheep, beef and deer farmers capture, analyse and use body condition score data more effectively.
Canterbury farmer Andy Macfarlane has been appointed to the board of AgriZeroNZ, the public-private partnership designed to accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reduction tools for New Zealand farmers.
For over 50 years Mel Ewers has been supporting the apple sector navigate through compliance and quality assurance issues.
The apple sector is enjoying a bumper harvest season.
