Former zookeeper wins top Taranaki dairy award
A farmer just named as one of Taranaki’s share farmers of the year knows all about looking after zoo animals as well as cows.
Daniel Barnard and Jess Matthews were named the 2024 Taranaki Dairy Industry Awards Share Farmers of the Year winners at the annual awards in Hāwera on Saturday evening.
Sarah Avery was named the 2024 Taranaki dairy manager of the year and Eric Fa’anoi the 2024 Taranaki dairy trainee of the year.
Barnard, who has been farming since 2003, spent 18 months working as a zookeeper at Wellington Zoo, during a sidestep from farming.
After attending Taratahi training college he worked his way up to farm manager before moving into contract milking in 2014.
Matthews grew up on a sheep and beef station and worked in the agriculture service industry.
The couple were working towards farm ownership and were moving into 50/50 sharemilking next season.
Right now they are working as lower order sharemilkers on Roger Dickie’s 500ha, 1600-cow property at Waverley.
“We intend to be hands-on farmers for the foreseeable future and look forward to seeing if our kids want to be involved in working on the land,” they said in a press release.
The couple said they were people-focused and enjoyed working with their large team and seeing them achieve their goals.
“We have a solid understanding of all the levels of the dairy farming ladder, meaning we can relate to staff well and have built a strong team culture where everyone enjoys coming to work.”
Jeffrey and Sharon Nicholas, who are 50/50 sharemilkers on Steve and Ann Nicholas’ 110ha, 350-cow Hāwera farm, were runner-up in the share farmer category.
Dairy manager of the year winner Sarah Avery is farm manager for Carl and Shey Kowalewski on their 130ha property, milking 300 cows at Midhirst.
Sarah grew up on a sheep and beef farm in Toko and holds a Bachelor of Agri Commerce from Massey University.
Dairy trainee of the year winner Eric Fa’anoi is second in charge on a 98ha, 330-cow farm in Hāwera and was encouraged to enter the awards by his employer, Matthew O’connell.