The couple this month won the top award and $14,000 in cash and prizes. Grant Clark won the Farm Manager of the Year title and Brandon Law the 2012 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year. All three winners work on family farms.
Fowlers say they enjoy dairy farming for its "fantastic lifestyle with a young family, allowing us to enjoy work and play off the farm and on."
Now in their fifth season, they 50% sharemilk 345 cows for Richard's parents, John and Linda Fowler, on 115ha at Te Puke.
Richard was formerly operations manager for Landcorp and Amy worked for Sport Bay of Plenty before starting their family.
They have twice before contested the awards, keen to have an outsider's view of their performance. "We are looking forward to using the feedback from having entered previously to improve certain parts of our business and presenting again to the judges who can give us another view."
The Fowlers say they enjoy goal-setting. "Having both come from strategic backgrounds prior to hands-on dairy farming, we know the importance of having direction and targets to achieve. We enjoy doing the hard yards and the sense of satisfaction when we achieve targets."
Long term they plan to buy the family farm within 10 years; short term they want to expand their sharemilking business, by either growing the family farm or buying another farm while retaining their current position.
They also are busy off-farm: Richard was national president of New Zealand Young Farmers for two years until July 2011 and Amy completed two marathons last year.
Te Puke lower order sharemilker Rob Bryan gained second in the contest winning $7150 in prizes, and Tony and Aimee Parton, also lower order sharemilking at Te Puke, were third winning $5250.
Clark won the Bay of Plenty Farm Manager of the Year title and collected $6800 in cash and prizes. It was his first time, aiming to prove to himself he deserved to be in his position. "I now know I'm on the right track to improve the farm's performance."
He now milks 450 cows for his father, Bernie Clark, and aims to be sharemilking 1000 cows in or around Waimana within six years.
Te Puke farm manager Joshua Wadsworth gained second in the farm manager contest, winning $3600, and Galatea farm manager Shaun Bicknell was third, winning $1800 in prizes.
In his first full season dairy farming, Whakatane 19-year-old farm assistant Law has won the 2012 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year title and $5300 in prizes.
"I was encouraged by my parents and employers, Alan and Wendy Law, to enter and... I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet some new people and get a feeling of where I am in the industry compared to other trainees."
Law has always wanted to be a dairy farmer and while at school worked casually and as a relief milker. "I enjoy the information and mentoring available to young people in the industry and I like researching information and new ideas to maximise production by making better use of the resources available on our farm."
He plans to be managing a larger dairy farm within two years and use the traditional dairy pathway to achieve his long term goal of farm ownership.
Te Puke herd manager Scott Wilks was second in the dairy trainee contest, winning $650 in prizes and Whakatane herd manager Thomas Blackett gained third, winning $350.
All three winners will now compete for the New Zealand Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year, New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year and New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year titles and a prize pool of nearly $140,000 in Auckland on May 12.
Richard and Amy Fowler, will host a field day on March 29, while Clark, will host a field day on the Waimana farm he manages on April 5.
www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz.
