6 | nzdairy Tree change just the ticket for Caitlin Calving 2023. Randall Johnston Farming on a property just west of Paeroa, Caitlin Snodgrass has won the Dairy Trainee of the Year Runner Up Award for the AucklandHauraki Region at the NZ Dairy Industry Awards. “I haven’t been farming that long compared to some of the others, so it was a nice surprise,” she says of the achievement. “I had only just finished my first season but I love it so much and I’m really keen to keep learning and improving as much as I can.” Prior to her career change to farming, Caitlin worked in service user experience for New Zealand Telehealth Services in Auckland. Raised in central Auckland and ‘primed to pursue a corporate career’, Caitlin says she’s never been happier in her life or work as she is now. “I had never really even experienced rural life or livestock until much later in life, when I had some exposure through friends. I knew I really needed a career change, so I went and studied to become a veterinary technician, which took a year, with various work experience placements that included assisting vets on dairy farms. That’s when I met some cool farmers who asked me to relief milk and it went from there really.” The first person she relief milked for was Richard Lynch who farms in Kerepehi, near Ngatea – who she met while assisting on an AB run. The second relief milking job she got was with Ethan and Sarah Koch in Patetonga. “I had met their young worker Rita Jeffrey, who won trainee of the year last year (and encouraged Caitlin to enter the awards this year), so that’s how that opportunity came about. After that, I had become friends with another young worker who I met while doing AB testing, who was changing farms - so I did part of a season on that third farm as well.” This third opportunity led to the job on the farm she is currently on, which is run by Brendan and Tessa Hopson - a busy 650 Kiwi Cross operation on about 200ha effective of mostly flats that back onto wetlands. “I started here on June 1 last year and it’s just been amazing, I’ve learnt so much since then,” Caitlin explains. “Prior to coming here I had only dealt with smaller herds, like 350 cows maximum, so to jump into one with 650 was a whole different ball game, in a system with quite intensive feeding. There’s just a lot more to keep your eye on, especially in a one person shed, but I’m very used to it now and really love it” Animal health is still Caitlin’s passion, but she is learning more about pasture management and other aspects of farming more broadly every day. The judges picked up on Caitlin’s passion for farming; having come from the corporate world DAIRY PEOPLE » B&T Hopson Partnership “I had only dealt with smaller herds, like 350 cows maximum, so to jump into one with 650 was a whole different ball game.” PROUD SUPPORTER OF B&T HOPSON PARTNERSHIP gives her a different level of appreciation for rural life and its benefits. With this recent accolade and a desire to soak up all the farming knowledge she can, Caitlin is clearly poised for a bright future in the dairy industry.
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