Winning bunch in Southland and Otago dairy industry
Andrew Hazlett started working in the dairy industry just before his 15th birthday.
With 21 years of experience under his belt, he was named the Southland and Otago dairy manager of the year at an awards dinner held at Invercargill’s Ascot Park Hotel on Wednesday.
Hazlett said his objective was to be among the best five in the category, but coming out on top made him even happier.
“I didn’t expect it,” the 35-year-old said. Hazlett, who manages a 570-cow farm at Thornbury in western Southland, was born in Australia and moved with his family to the South Island when he was 3 years old.
He said he left school after he was diagnosed with dyslexia in Canterbury and went to work on the Mossburn farm
his dad used to manage.
The learning disorder made it hard to work with numbers on the farm, he said.
However, it spurred his interest in technology that could help farm management. One example was Protrack, an app that Hazlett said made data on cows understandable and easily accessible.
One day, he said, he would like to have his own farm.
“It would just be nice to
have something of my own that I could look out of the window every day and know it’s mine, and know I have worked hard to get there.”
Among the other winners at the Southland and Otago Dairy Industry Awards night were Southland contract milkers Cameron Smith, 27, and Nicole Hanning-Smith, 26, who took out the share farmer of the year category.
The couple had both studied towards a bachelor of commerce majoring in agriculture at Lincoln University and now
work on a 580-cow farm at Dacre.
They said they enjoyed working with animals on the farm, where there was never a dull moment.
They had recently bought a house and land, but since they were still in their 20s they could take high-risk opportunities, they said.
“We want to be in a position that when opportunities come knocking, we can grab them and run.”
The trainee of the year award went to Shannon Butler, a 28-year-old farm assistant who works on an Invercargill farm, milking 600 cows.
Butler, Hanning-Smith, Hazlett and Smith will attend the dairy industry award winners’ field day on April 10. The event will be hosted by the farm where Hanning-Smith and Smith work at 245 Awarua School Rd.
Regional winners will head to the dairy industry nationals in Queenstown on May 11.