Wednesday, 13 November 2024 09:55

Sharemilker completes the trifecta

Written by  Staff Reporters
2024 West Coast/Top of the South Share Farmer of the Year award winners, Michael and Cheryl Shearer. 2024 West Coast/Top of the South Share Farmer of the Year award winners, Michael and Cheryl Shearer.

The major winners in the 2024 West Coast/Top of the South Share Farmer of the Year award, Michael and Cheryl Shearer were happy to complete the trifecta.

He was named 2014 Taranaki Farm Manager of the Year and in 2012 he placed third in the New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year competition after winning the West Coast Top of the South regional title.

Michael says he "really wanted to tick the box of winning all three categories".

"Success in the awards has definitely provided us with opportunities we otherwise would not have had.

"We also really enjoy the networking it provides, and it really does give you confidence both personally and in what you are doing on farm."

The Shearers cite their financial discipline and low-input, once-a-day system as their business' greatest strengths. They run a tight ship that is sustainable and profitable in all payouts and say the once-a-day system allows for time out of the shed and off the farm.

"It's important to be able to give your mind a rest from the farm as this helps to keep your head and thoughts clear and remind you what is really important."

The Shearers are 50/50 sharemilkers on Russell Andrews' 225ha Reefton farm milking 500 cows. They won $8,000 in prizes and four merit awards. Entries for the 2025 NZDIA are now open.

West Coast Top of the South Regional Manager Anna Derks says all entrants eligible to win a trip to the Bay of Plenty for the National Final Gala dinner in May 2025. For more information visit the NZDIA website.

More like this

Keeping a watch on dairy farms

OPINION: Dairy farmers are under increasing pressure to safeguard their livestock, equipment and operations from a range of security threats.

Featured

Brendan Attrill scoops national award for sustainable farming

Brendan Attrill of Caiseal Trust in Taranaki has been announced as the 2025 National Ambassador for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipient of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the National Sustainability Showcase at in Wellington this evening.

National

Machinery & Products

Farming smarter with technology

The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry…

RainWave set to cause a splash

Traditional spreading via tankers or umbilical systems have typically discharged effluent onto splash-plates, resulting in small droplet sizes, which in…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Misguided campaign

OPINION: Last week, Greenpeace lit up Fonterra's Auckland headquarters with 'messages from the common people' - that the sector is…

Fieldays goes urban

OPINION: Once upon a time the Fieldays were for real farmers, salt of the earth people who thrived on hard…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter