Adventurer top dairy farmer
Aformer adventure tourism guide and ex-secondary school teacher have been named as major winners in the Canterbury-North Otago Dairy Industry Awards.
Christopher and Siobhan O’Malley were announced winners of the region’s Share Farmer of the Year held at the Airforce Museum of New Zealand in Christchurch on Wednesday. The other big winners were Kerry Higgins, who was named Manager of the Year, and Ben Haley, the Dairy Trainee of the Year.
The O’Malleys are sharemilking 515 cows on Graham Brookers 138ha farm in Ashburton.They entered the awards to give them an understanding of where they fitted into the industry and got that feedback in spades.
The couple reflect now that the competition process allowed them to focus on parts of the farm business that they may not have paid the same level of attention otherwise. With eight seasons experience in the dairying industry, they see their partnership as a strong foundation to grow their business.
‘‘We have a common drive to succeed, we’re on the same page in regards to risk and we understand when the other is under pressure, which helps to share the load,’’ Christopher said. ‘‘It helps to have someone to enjoy the journey with.’’
Before a dairying career, Christopher worked as an adventure tourism guide in Abel Tasman, Taupo and Ireland. He had previously sailed across the Pacific Ocean and was named the Mid-Canterbury Rugby Referee of the Year last year.Their future farming goals include farm ownership.
Manager of the Year winner Kerry Higgins had entered three times previously and believed being able to analyse a farm business had helped him learn more about his business and the dairy industry. Higgins was the farm manager for Leon and Bronwyn Mckavanagh on their 433ha, 1340-cow farm at Hororata.
‘‘The awards have pushed me outside my comfort zone and have made me take a long, hard look at the way in which I approach my business,’’ he said. ‘‘This has helped me build a greater understanding of my strengths and weaknesses.’’
Higgins grew up on a high country station in the McKenzie Basin, and before entering the dairy industry in 2011 held a variety of roles in the security industry, culminating as a senior parliamentary security officer. He aimed to continue to progress through the dairy industry, moving into a contract milking position in the 2017/18 season.
‘‘Farm ownership is the ultimate goal,’’ he said.
Higgins believed working on an established farm gave him the strength and financial resilience to deal with hard times, and an understanding of balancing production with profitability.
‘‘Being self-contained, the business is not at the whim of the market for silage, young stock or wintering costs.’’
Dairy Trainee of the Year winner Ben Haley thought entering the awards would test his knowledge of dairy farming and push him in the right direction to further his dairying career.
The 24-year-old had been in the industry for three seasons after spent 14 months as a station hand on a cattle station south of Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory of Australia.
He was a farm assistant for the New Zealand Rural Property Trust on an 1100-cow, 300ha property at Ashburton.
Future farming goals included a promotion to second-in-charge and securing a management position in the next five years.