42 | Young Bay of Plenty couple recognised Rosa Watson For Bay of Plenty couple Troy Peterson and Zar Floyd, winning runner up at the dairy industry awards this year was about more than just picking up a trophy. It was their first time entering the awards - they were pretty new to the industry having only been farming for four years and they felt it might “send them in the right direction”. And they weren’t wrong. “The best thing we got out of it was the feedback from the judges. That’s sort of what we were after in the beginning,” Troy said. “It was a big eye-opener.” The feedback from judges was “short and sharp” and put it in a nutshell. They hadn‘t picked up any merits over the course of the awards, so were “pretty surprised” when their names were called out. Troy and Zar are 50:50 sharemilking on Troy’s parent’s farm where he was brought up. It is a system three farm that has 280 cattle at peak on 90 hectares. The couple are committed to improving the environmental impact of their farm and have been lucky to have worked with an environmental consultant through Fonterra, Troy said. “He highlighted areas where we needed to do something.” They closely monitored their nitrogen levels and made sure they were always under the benchmark for the Bay of Plenty area. Before moving to the farm, Troy and Zar were living in the Whakatane area where he was a diesel mechanic and Zar was a retail manager. “We started having kids and we thought it would be cool to come back to the farm so we could bring them up on the farm. Raising kids and working full time away from home had been hard.“We were just never home.” Moving to the farm had meant the children could be at home with them, rather than at daycare all day. “It’s worked out really well.” Their eldest, Rocky, is now four and youngest, Cooper, is one. The couple manage the milking themselves with Zar rearing the calves, taking care of the book work and helping out milking where she can. They plan to buy into the farm over time, setting themselves and their children up for the future. For Troy, the farm is much the same as when he was a child, except for a brand new cow shed with “all the bells and whistles”, which was built RURAL PEOPLE » Troy Pedersen and Zar Floyd OUR SERVICES ▶ Baling Hay & Silage ▶ Cultivation & Planting ▶ Crops & Pasture Renewal ▶ Tractor & Trailer Cartage ▶ On-farm EngineeringWork PROUD TO SUPPORT TROY PEDERSEN & ZAR FLOYD 027 476 9670 watcon@xtra.co.nz Veterinary Health Centres : Opotiki 07 315 8474 Whakatane 07 308 7479 www.opovets.co.nz Congratulations to Troy Petersen and Zar Floyd, Cam and Jess Lea, Dave Leeder and Mere Edwards, Stefan and Rachel Grobecker in their success. We have enjoyed working with you to achieve your farm goals. Veterinary Health Centre works with farmers throughout the Eastern Bay of Plenty to help clients enhance farm profitability. six years ago. Before that there was a 15-aside shed complete with the old rope system. Troy and Cooper going on the farm in the tractor. For the future they are aiming to buy another farm and grow the business. They plan on entering the awards again and have already started planning, including identifying areas of the farm to plant in natives. “If I don’t use it then it gets planted. I’ve found it easy enough.” This fits in well with feedback from this year’s judges that recommended more planting for shade, Zar said. “That’s a big incentive for us. That’s a priority for us doing our tree planting.” They hope to keep building on their business, supported by Troy’s parents that have moved away from the operation but are always on hand to offer advice. “They’re full of knowledge.”
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