Groundspreaders’ annual awards

THE NEW ZEALAND GROUNDSPREAD FERTILISERS Association’s prestigious Ballance Agri-Nutrients President’s Award has been awarded to Grant Anderson, of Transport Services Southland.

The award, announced at the association’s recent “virtual” AGM, recognised Anderson – a vice-president of the association – for “his leadership and mentoring skills, as well as his advocacy for the industry standard, Spreadmark.

“Grant’s commitment to growing the industry professionally, while augmenting health and safety practices, in particular, incident reporting,” was also recognised.

Marty Crafar, formerly of Safe Business Solutions, was the runner-up for the award and was acknowledged for “his commitment to guiding groundspreader operators through business challenges – providing ideas, hands-on advice and resources across human resources, health and safety, management and auditing.”

Ted Usmar, head of engineering at Waikato-based Wealleans, was awarded the Trucks & Trailers Innovation Award “for his longterm commitment to continuous improvement to technical efficiency and driver safety.”

Nathan Callander, of Callander Groundspread – described as “an enthusiastic and talented ambassador for the industry” – was the runnerup for the award.

Phil Johnson, driver trainer at Canterbury Driver Training, took the Graymont Health & Safety Award – commended for “his diligence in developing thorough training programmes that create competent and qualified groundspreader operators, who are highly proficient in the area of health and safety.”

Runner-up Jessie Freer, of Taranaki’s Sandford Group, was praised for successfully updating old systems and implementing new H&S procedures across 10 sites, 140 staff and 100 trucks.

The Ravensdown Young Achiever’s Award, for aspiring under-35s, was won by 22-year-old Matthew Blomfield of Transport Services Southland. He was recognised for his “respect of the environment, as well as his passion for farming and his profession…” Wealleans Groundspread operations manager Jared Usmar was the runner-up.

The online AGM saw John Schultz, of Mainland Groundspreading, reelected president, unchallenged. VPs Grant Anderson and Graeme Martin were also re-elected.

T&D