Southlander a finalist for dairy award

Jolene Germann only milked her first cow seven years ago, but since then she has been immersed in the industry. The Agribusiness Consultants dairy consultant and Rural Business Network Southland chairwoman is one of three finalists for the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year title.

Originally from a sheep and beef background in the Waikato, Germann and her husband Hadleigh own a 570-cow dairy farm in equity partnership in Aparima, Southland.

‘‘I hadn’t done any dairy farming until I met my husband Hadleigh, we met through Young Farmers, that was when I was doing a PhD at AgResearch.’’

On one of the couple’s first dates Germann helped her future husband dry cow therapy his herd.

From there, they moved to Southland and were contract milking for four years before forming an equity partnership with friends from Young Farmers.

‘‘When we first moved here we were contract milking while I was finishing my thesis and then I worked for Ravensdown for two years.

It was during her time working as a fertiliser representative that Germann met her future boss Ivan Lines, of Agribusiness Consultants. While working with him as a fertiliser representative on his farms, Lines offered her a job as a consultant.

‘‘He offered me a job as a consultant even though I haven’t studied ag or done any dairy farming. So I guess that was a bit of a risk.’’

She has been working for the company for three years, and works with 50-odd dairy farming clients.

‘‘I’m pretty lucky with the clients I have ... I feel pretty fortunate to have them. People trust you a lot.’’

While she hasn’t been in the industry for long Germann has immersed herself in the community. She is the chairwoman of the Mid-Aparima Catchment Group, the Southland Rural Business Network, and she also does Primary ITO and Dairy NZ Dairy Connect mentoring.

‘‘I guess I’ve just had heaps of opportunities in the dairy industry. Considering I’ve gone from seven years ago not really even milking a cow to pretty much being immersed.’’

Germann is a big supporter of Young Farmers and credits it with not only meeting Hadleigh, but also helping the couple to find likeminded friends when they moved to Southland.

‘‘I guess Young Farmers has worked out pretty good finding a husband and a business partner,’’ she joked.

Germann not only feels humbled to be a finalist in this award, but also humbled by the trust she gets from her clients.

‘‘The dairy industry is really full of positive people.’’

The winner of the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year title will be announced at an awards evening during the annual Dairy Women’s Network conference, in Queenstown, on May 11 and 12.

The winner will receive of scholarship prize of up to $20,000 to undertake a professional/business development programme.