32 | Strong interest in farming and animals Cows grazing in the paddock. Sam and Karen Bennett. Richard Loader Past winners of the Southland Dairy Industry’s Sharefarmer of the Year award, Sam and Karren Bennett, are looking forward to the next step in their professional farming journey, when they take the reins of a 950-cow sharemilking job, just down the road from their current farm. Sam and Karen have both come from farming backgrounds. While Sam grew up on a sheep and beef farm in Southland, Karen grew up on a south Westland dairy farm. After qualifying as a builder and enjoying some overseas travel, Sam entered the dairy industry in 2014 and was a herd manager for two years, before he and Karen went to his father’s dairy farm in Brydone, and started their first year of contract milking. After contract milking for three years, the couple picked up their second contract job fifteen minutes down the road in Wyndham, milking 600 cows. “We put staff onto the farm in Brydone, and relocated ourselves to the Wyndham farm,” says Karen. “We did that for two years, and then Sam’s dad sold the farm and we bought the herd of 300 cows.” Securing their first 50/50 sharemilking job, Sam and Karen walked their 300-cow herd down the road to their new farm. “It’s a quiet side road, but we had to cross over the main state highway and a railway track, so we called an experienced civil contractor to assist with traffic management, using mobile traffic lights. The crossing only took two minutes, and went without incident. With staff on that farm, we’re now in our second season there, and still contract milking in Wyndham. We have a good team of staff but Sam goes over to the 50/50 and milks there as required.” Karen has always held a strong interest in farming and animals, and after leaving school gained a science degree majoring in animal science. After working as an AI technician for nine years she worked as a fertiliser representative until 2019 when she and Sam had their first child. “We now have two children with another due in May. Sam and I both have really good memories of growing up on farms. We love the freedom of the outdoors and we want the same for our kids. They learn so much from going outside with us and ‘helping’. We both have a passion for the animals and Sam really enjoys pasture management. Farming fits in with our lifestyle. Sam comes home for breakfast and lunch and he’s home after milking in the afternoons.” While Sam is mainly on the ground in the farm, Karen provides support in the background, doing all the books for both farms. Karen says she and Sam have always set goals, and that has been a DAIRY » Sam and Karen Bennett large part of their success as dairy farmers, and progressing through the career path. “We want to continue in the dairy industry and keep progressing. We’ve just secured a 950-cow sharemilking job, again in Brydon. So we will finish up on the two farms we’re currently on and start our new job on the 1st of June. Finding a 50/50 job of that size in this area is quite rare, so we’re quite lucky and we will hold on to it for the foreseeable future.” “We love the freedom of the outdoors and we want the same for our kids. They learn so much from going outside with us and helping.” Scott Hutton 027 355 0818 General Manager Office 03 206 9966 Herbert’s Transport Ben Halstead 027 203 7542 Operations Manager Brock Payne 027 715 1734 Livestock Coordinator Justin Robertson 027 600 4049 Liquids Coordinator Dean Moore 027 779 9449 Bulk / Spreading Coordinator SIMPLICITY - PASSION - TRUST - INNOVATION
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