| 3 nzdairy AWARDS » Alan da Veiga $10,000 in prizes plus six merit awards Russell Fredric The winner of this year’s Canterbury / North Otago Dairy Industry Awards Share Farmer of the Year has been appointed team leader of next year’s regional awards. In March this year, Leeston contract milker Alan da Veiga scooped $10,000 in prizes plus six merit awards, subsequently winning the Ecolab Total Farm Hygiene award at the national event held in Queenstown in May. Entrants can compete for Share Farmer or Dairy Manager of the Year or Dairy Trainee of the Year, with a deadline of December 8 to enter the 2025 regional awards. Alan is one of a committee of 10 people organising the event. As team leader, his role includes contacting the entrants and making sure they are set up on the Dairy Industry awards website portal and on track with their intensive preparation. The portal outlines important information about each award category including full judging criteria and some tips on how to prepare for judging. Share Farmer of the Year entrants need to submit a copy of their annual accounts by January 28, or a budget and cash flow if they are in their first year of business, with each region having a judging round. Entrants for Dairy Manager and Share Farmer of the Year are visited on-farm by the judges at an agreed time and date, while Dairy Trainee Award entrants are judged at a group skills day in the area; the lead up to the awards is an intense time for the entrants. Alan’s contract milking position is on a Dairy Holdings 260 hectare, 1000 cow farm at Leeston. He employs fours staff including his brothers Alex and David who absolutely love what they do and are highly motivated to learn, grow and aim to eventually purchase their own dairy farms. Alan has accumulated a herd of 160 cows and 105 rising two year-olds. The Dairy Holdings business model means he can raise extra replacements then lease them back to help to start his own herd. The awards entry process and the preparation he went through for his own entry required made him think outside of the box, plus networking with a variety people who had different ideas had also been beneficial, he says. “It made me understand my business more and the potential to grow.” “I had to do a lot of budgets for it which were quite complex for a share farmer, and so I learnt quite a lot. It helped me a lot with the banks; all my banks were involved with my budget and helping me out [with the award entry].” Unsurprisingly, the national Eco Labs award’s comprehensive criteria is reflected in the hygiene standards, the presentation of the milking shed and its surroundings and data recording, plus the health of the herd. The herd is also showing positive reproductive performance, with a six week in-calf rate of 73%, which is well above the national average and an empty rate of 8%. Alan is encouraging those that qualify to enter to give the awards a go as a lot is gained by going Leeston contract milker Alan da Veiga scooped $10,000 in prizes plus six merit awards. Proudly supporting Alan da Veiga FERTILISER SPREADING | FARM MAPPING GPS TRACKING | VARIABLE RATE SPREADING LIVESTOCK CARTAGE | DAILY FREIGHT CONCRETE SUPPLIES | GRAIN CARTAGE SHINGLE SUPPLIES | FERTILISER SUPPLIES Leeston: 03 3248 070 | Dunsandel: 03 3254 039 reception@ellesmere.co.nz Alan da Veiga through the process, and for him, along with the recognition gained, it has been a great confidence booster. He has since established an online profile as Maromba Farm on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok which has become a fast-growing Tik Tok account where he has gained 3000 followers and shares his experience and aspects of farm life on live streams.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=