76 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » South Ealing Dairy Many benefits from NZ Dairy Industry Awards Karen Phelps Ashburton couple Dinuka and Nadeeka are keen advocates of the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards and say they have experienced numerous benefits in their own farming business and beyond. The couple are the current Canterbury/North Otago Regional Managers and were the 2021 winners of the Share Farmer of the Year category in the region. “It’s a real advantage for people to enter a competition like this. They benchmark their business, up-skill their knowledge and it opens up so many opportunities,” says Dinuka. The couple are in their seventh season contract milking 950 crossbreed cows on a 245ha farm owned by Dairy Holdings Ltd and say entering the awards has resulted in a lot of networking opportunities, which was a huge advantage. “We’ve gained lots of confidence through the whole process. It’s helped us to focus our business, which in turn has helped us to increase our herd size and buy rental properties.” It’s also enabled them consolidate their path to farm ownership and they next have their sights set on a 50:50 sharemilking position. They are presently busy building up stock numbers by buying cows and rearing calves each year. They operate a pasture-based system with no supplement used. Pasture is a major focus for them with weekly farm walks and re-grassing 10% each year. They are huge advocates of on-going learning and taking on the next challenge – something that was a factor in entering the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards – an encourage their staff to do the same. Dinuka holds New Zealand diplomas in agribusiness management and also a National diploma in technology agriculture engineering and post-graduate diploma in marketing from Sri Lanka. Dinuka is originally from Ampara, the eastern part of Sri Lanka, where he worked on dairy farms for two years before seeking his fortune in New Dinuka & Nadeeka Gamage of South Ealing Dairy. “We’ve gained lots of confidence through the whole process. It’s helped us to focus our business, which in turn has helped us to increase our herd size and buy rental properties.” Zealand in 2008. Starting on an 800-cow farm in Kaikoura in an assistant herd manager position, a year later he moved to a position as farm manager on unit at Culverden milking a herd of 970 predominantly Friesian cows. He spent seven seasons on the unit before moving to the Dairy Holdings farm. Dinuka and Nadeeka have two children, Anuhas, 16 and Thejan, 12, who also enjoy the rural lifestyle. Dinuka says entering the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards is easy with categories including Share Farmer of the Year, Dairy Manager of the Year, Dairy Trainee of the Year and the Responsible Dairying Award. People just need to head to www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz and fill out an online entry. Once entry is complete, they will then gain access to an ‘entrants only’ section of the website with important information about the category they have entered including a full judging criteria and some tips on how to prepare for judging. Dinuka says that the New Zealand dairy industry awards attract farmers from across the country, working in all levels of the dairy industry. “The awards showcase and support our passionate farmers of the future. The three competitions give entrants the chance to earn a regional or national title and to share in substantial regional and national prize pools.” New Zealand Certified Builders Association CB Construction LTD - New Builds - Additions - Alterations - Farm Buildings Pleased to be associated with South Ealing Dairy SOUTH EALING DAIRY • Concrete • Fertiliser Spreading - Farm Mapping - GPS Tracking - Variable Rate Spreading • Livestock Cartage • Grain Cartage • Shingle Supplies • Daily Freight Leeston: 03 3248 070 Dunsandel: 03 3254 039 reception@ellesmere.co.nz
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