Friday, 12 April 2019 11:24

Looking after people, cows

Written by 
Ruwan Wijayasena with wife Deepthi. Ruwan Wijayasena with wife Deepthi.

The Share Farmer of the Year in the 2019 Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Industry Awards says he aims to look after his people, pasture, cows and environment.

Ruwan Wijayasena (43) is now in his 14th year dairy farming, promoting sustainable best practices and increasing profit by innovating.

 He says the past few years have shown the business is achieving consistent results. “I wanted to share this with the wider industry and discover other opportunities for the business to grow.”

Ruwan is contract milking 1840 cows for Theland Farm Group Ltd on a 537ha Darfield farm. He won $10,750 in prizes plus two merit awards.

He holds a BSc Agri Sciences degree from Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, majoring in livestock production.

“I have always loved being a farmer, and I was lucky to join Synlait Farms, now Theland Farm Group, who shared my desire to implement best farm practices for sustainability.”

Ruwan sees his consistent results as a strength of the sustainable dairy business. “They are a result of lean implementation and LWP implementation under a strong leadership.” 

“My wife and I are Buddhist and have a religious barrier of not being able to own cows and make decisions to kill them. We have found a way to grow our business without following the traditional footsteps.”

Farming goals include expanding the contract milking business. “I am not planning to become 50/50 sharemilker and then a farm owner. I can prove that there are other ways to grow than the traditional ladder and wish to share my knowledge with the industry.”

More like this

Awards to boost farm ownership goals

Two new Awards have been developed for the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) programme that will help some farmers on their journey to farm ownership.

Workers a big part of the farming business

"We couldn't do this without our team. They are integral to everything." That's the first thing that Te Awamutu dairy farmers Jayson and Stacey Thompson have to say about their team.

Sharemilker completes the trifecta

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.

Featured

Being a rural vet is ‘fantastic’

Everyone from experienced veterinarians and young professionals to the Wormwise programme and outstanding clinics have been recognised in this year’s New Zealand Veterinary Association Te Pae Kīrehe (NZVA) awards.

Editorial: Long overdue!

OPINION: The Government's latest move to make freshwater farm plans more practical and affordable is welcome, and long overdue.

National

Lame stories from a country vet

Everyone from experienced veterinarians and young professionals to the Wormwise programme and outstanding clinics have been recognised in this year’s…

Machinery & Products

Gongs for best field days site

Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive…

Amazone extends hoe range

With many European manufacturers releasing mechanical weeding systems to counter the backlash around the use and possible banning of agrochemicals,…

Gong for NH dealers

New Holland dealers from around Australia and New Zealand came together last month for the Dealer of the Year Awards,…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Less hot air

OPINION: Farmers won't get any credit for this from the daily media, so Milking It is giving the bouquets where…

Dollars go offshore

OPINION: The Advertising Standards Authority’s 2024 report revealed that not only is social media rotting our brains, it is also…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter