Co-op farmers dominate NZ Dairy Industry Awards
Co-op farmers have once again enjoyed great success in this year’s New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIAs) with Fonterra suppliers winning 29 of the 33 regional titles.
The winners of the three categories – Share Farmer of the Year, Dairy Manager of the Year and Dairy Trainee of the Year – across the 11 regions will now be assessed by a national judging panel and the national titles will be awarded at a black-tie dinner at Stadium Southland in Invercargill on May 12. Tickets to the dinner can be purchased online at www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz.
Fonterra farmers have won all three national titles for two consecutive years and are in with a great chance of a hat-trick.
Nine regional Share Farmer winners are Co-op suppliers with nine Dairy Trainee of the Year winners and all 11 Dairy Manager of the Year finalists working on farms that supply milk to Fonterra.
The Fonterra finalists are:
Share Farmer of the Year
Thomas & Jennifer Read (Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa)
Owen Clegg & Hollie Wham (Taranaki)
Dan & Gina Duncan (Northland)
Chris & Sally Guy (Auckland/Hauraki)
Steve Gillies & Amy Johnson (Waikato)
Reece & Natasha Cox (Bay of Plenty)
Tim & Melissa Parsons (Central Plateau)
Simon & Hilary Vallely (Otago/Southland)
Daniel & Paula McAtamney (Canterbury/North Otago)
Dairy Manager of the Year
Angela Strawbridge (Manawatu)
Gerard Boerjan (Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa)
James Holgate (Taranaki)
Sam Moscrip (Northland)
Terence Potter (Auckland/Hauraki)
Chelsea Smith (Waikato)
Bridie Virbickas (Bay of Plenty)
Colin Tremain (Central Plateau)
Jaime McCrostie (Otago/Southland)
Will Green (Canterbury/North Otago)
Anthony Lamborn (West Coast/Top of South)
Dairy Trainee of the Year
Brock Cumming (Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa)
Samuel White (Manawatu)
Andrew Trolove (Taranaki)
Eden Ritchie (Northland)
Quinn Youngman (Auckland/Hauraki)
Zoe Gleeson (Bay of Plenty)
Aaron Courage (Waikato)
Salem Christian (Canterbury/North Otago)
Sam Goffriller (West Coast/Top of the South)
2018 Taranaki DIA all winners L-R: DMOTY James Holgate, SFOTY Owen Clegg and Hollie Wham, DTOTY Andrew Trolove
2018 Auckland Hauraki all winners L-R: DMOTY Terence Potter, SFOTY Chris and Sally Guy, DTOTY Quinn Youngman
Waikato all winners - L-R: Aaron Courage 2018 Waikato DTOTY, Amy Johnson and Steve Gillies 2018 Waikato SFOTY, Chelsea Smith 2018 Waikato DMOTY
2018 BOP All winners L-R: DTOTY Bridie Virbickas, SFOTY Natasha and Reece Cox, DTOTY Zoe Gleeson
CNO All winners L-R: DTOTY Salem Christian, SFOTY Daniel and Paula McAtamney, DMOTY Will Green
HBW Winners L-R: Brock Cumming - Thomas and Jennifer Read, Gerard Boerjan
Chief Operating Officer for Fonterra Farm Source Miles Hurrell says the awards are worthy recognition for the Co-op’s farmers.
“Our farmers have a proud history in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards and it’s great to see them once again acknowledged for all the hard work they put in.
“The Awards are a celebration of New Zealand’s dairy industry and I would like to congratulate not just the winners but also all those who took the time to enter”, says Miles.
“It’s particularly pleasing to see numerous entries and strong performances from the younger generation as those taking part the Trainee of the Year competition are the future of our industry.”
A new award to recognise dairy farmers who demonstrate leadership in their approach to sustainable dairying will also be presented at the National Final awards dinner in May.
The Fonterra Farm Source Responsible Dairying Award will recognise those dairy farmers who are respected by their farming peers and their community for their attitude to and role in sustainable dairying.
The farmer could come from any of New Zealand’s milk suppliers to be eligible for the award. The inaugural winner will be selected by a panel of judges and announced at the National Final awards dinner.
Fonterra Farm Source is a major sponsor of the NZ Dairy Industry Awards, along with Westpac, DairyNZ, Delaval, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Honda Motorcycles, LIC, Meridian Energy and Ravensdown along with industry partner Primary ITO.