increase font size
Tasman sharemilkers Warric and Rachel Johnson haven’t let the 2006 milk payout crash put them out of business.
Tasman sharemilkers Warric and Rachel Johnson haven't let the 2006 milk payout crash put them out of business.
Despite being forced to sell cows to survive, the Johnsons bounced back and were this month crowned 2025 West Coast/Top of the South share farmers of the year. They won $7,600 and five merit awards.
The Johnsons were runners-up in the same category last year and say the awards programme enabled them to learn more about their business and fine tune it.
Warric and Rachel are contract milkers for Phil and Jocelyn Riley on their 375ha,1100-cow Tapawera property. They employ four staff and a tractor driver. Most of the Johnsons' farming career has been in mid-Canterbury, but the last six years have been spent in Tasman.
Warric recalls that they were lower order sharemilkers buying in-calf heifers to build their herd when the payout crashed.
"Sometimes things happen outside our control, there is nothing wrong with having to start over again. You will be wiser for it," Warric told Dairy News.
He says that they still enjoy what they do, even in the tougher times.
"That's when you build character and learn the most," he says.
"I'm very much a numbers man and am constantly diving into the financial side of the business," he says.
"I have an endless curiosity for analysing which I'm passionate about and like to find out meanings and answers for any problem presented."
The Johnsons supply Synlait and are proud to achieve the processor's Lead with Pride certification while running two large scale dairy farms.
Future farming goals include farm ownership.
Warric thanked current farm owners Phil and Jocelyn Riley, mentors Gary Ashton and Murray Johnson and previous employers Stuart Brander and Hans Fikken for their support.
The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors ASB, CowManager, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda, LIC, and Trelleborg, along with industry partner DairyNZ.
The runners-up in the share farmer category are Kaisa Sadowska and Sam Riley who are 50/50 sharemilkers on Brent Riley's 200ha, 500-cow Collingwood property. They won $4,300 in prizes.
As the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards night unfolded, it became evident that Waikato’s Thomas and Fiona Langford were the frontrunners for the biggest prize of the night – the 2025 Share Farmers of the Year award.
OPINION: Results of regional New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) are trickling in but there's a worrying trend emerging.
The winner of the 2025 Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Industry Awards enjoys the variety of work farming offers and the ability to improve each season.
Coronet Peak, Queenstown, was the venue for the 2024 NZ Dairy Industry Awards.
Manawatu farmers Will Hinton and Kali Rangiawha have scooped the 2024 New Zealand Share Farmers of the Year.
The Primary Production Select Committee is calling for submissions on the Valuers Bill currently before Parliament.
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) says that commercial fruit and vegetable growers are getting ahead of freshwater farm plan regulations through its Growing Change project.
Lucidome Bio, a New Zealand agricultural biotech company was recently selected as one of fourteen global finalists to pitch at the Animal Health, Nutrition and Technology Innovation USA event in Boston.
Tractor manufacturer and distributor Case IH has announced a new partnership with Meet the Need, the grassroots, farmer-led charity working to tackle food insecurity across New Zealand one meal at a time.
The DairyNZ Farmers Forum is back with three events - in Waikato, Canterbury and Southland.
To celebrate 25 years of the Hugh Williams Memorial Scholarship, Ravensdown caught up with past recipients to see where their careers have taken them, and what the future holds for the industry.
OPINION: Last week's announcement of Prime Minister’s new Science and Technology Advisory Council hasn’t gone down too well in the…
OPINION: At its recent annual general meeting, Federated Farmers’ Auckland province called for New Zealand to withdraw from the Paris…
