NZ Dairy Winter 2021

| 61 nz dairy DAIRY AWARDS » Claire Harty Eventful year for farm manager Richard Loader C laire Harty manages Nick and Nicky Dawson’s 180ha (effective) dairy farm at Patoka, inland from Hastings. Her progression through the dairy industry has been a positive journey of support and achievement, culminating this year in being named runner-up in the Dairy Manager of the Year, Hawke’s Bay/Wai- rarapa, at this year’s dairy industry awards. This is not her first taste of success at the awards. Back in 2019, she entered the Dairy Train- ee of the Year competition for the Central Plateau region and came runner-up. She entered the award to pit herself against others working at her level. “I learnt more about myself, about areas I am lacking and to have the input of the judges.” It was this same interest in assessing herself against other competitors that propelled her to enter again in this year’s event. With the support of Nick and Nicky, Claire com- peted in the first round of judging, an experience she admits felt quite daunting. “Once I got through the first round I felt a lot more confident. One of the challenges is that you have a fixed amount of time to present your farming knowledge, so you really need to think about what is important to say.” Claire and husband Jeffrin Harty have been on the Dawson’s farm nearly two years. Prior to this Claire was 2IC on a 860 cow farm near Rotorua. She acknowledges how positive the experience has been moving to this farm and assuming the managers role. “When we arrived we certainly weren’t dropped into the deep end. I also love the lifestyle working here offers. You’re here to do a job but there is also a strong commitment to the importance of work/life balance.” Nick says that pretty much since the couple stepped on to the farm there’s been drought condi- tions. To mitigate this and to help support their farming business given this, the Dawson’s have taken on another farm as a leased property. “This got us through the drought and because it extended over two years, we decided to reduce our herd number for this coming season. Farming is always about tweaking and we’re trying to make ourselves more bullet-proof,” says Nick. Milking reduced to once a day from Christmas and the herd is given ample feed to cope with the dry. “We go hard until Christmas and then ease off, to keep the best condition for calving,” Nick explains. Calving is due to get underway 25 July and will take up to nine weeks to see through. When each cow dries off completely is staggered to ensure that every one gets two months off. It’s obvious to hear that Nick and Claire enjoy a great working relationship with constant com- munication and scheduled fortnightly meetings to discuss how the farm and herd are performing. Claire says she always aspired to be a farmer. At high-school she really began to think about how to get into the industry. She was selected to attend the Central North Island Dairy Academy, a joint Tara- tahi Agricultural Training Centre/Massey University programme. “There were ten of us and the course was fully paid for. It was the best thing I could have done. I remember finishing my Level 4 and thinking that was it for training but then I found I really wanted to get some leadership courses under my belt,” says Claire. And off the farm, life has also delivered some exciting moments. In February Claire entered a local radio competition to receive an all-expenses paid wedding. The only hitch was that the wedding would be organised and happen within a week. “You can imagine how surprised I was to learn we had won. It was a crazy time but really wonder- ful as well as we had to make decisions on the spot.” There’s little doubt that Claire and Jeffrin stand every chance of achieving all the goals they set for themselves as they progress through an industry they love being part of. “You can imagine how surprised I was to learn we had won (the wedding competition). It was a crazy time but really wonderful as well as we had to make decisions on the spot.” Claire and Jeffrin Harty tie the knot after winning a local radio competition to receive an all-expenses paid wedding. Claire with a speckled calf at Nick and Nicky Dawson’s dairy farm at Patoka. Servicing the Puketapu, Patoka & Puketitiri area for baling, cultivation, drilling, maize / beet planting & earthmoving requirements CONTRACTING