| 25 nzdairy “Putting our presentation together made us analyse things in a lot more detail and we probably made better decisions for our new role. We were ecstatic to win the Taranaki award, let alone get a placing at National’s which was incredible. There were a lot of top operators from around the country and you’re just thinking we’re in the same room as these guys.” DAIRY AWARDS » Murray & Rachel Perks A decade has passed since Taranaki farmers Murray and Rachel Perks rst entered the dairy industry’s Share Farmer of the year award, acting on advice given that while unlikely to be placed the lessons learned would be invaluable. “That’s exactly what happened,” says Murray. “I can remember the judges’ feedback about doing regular management reports for the farm owners, a practice that has now become a habit.” The same sage person who gave the original advice about entering the awards went on to suggest waiting a few more years till the couple entered again with a bit more experience under their belts, so they had the best chance of doing well at both the Regional and National awards. And that is exactly what happened, winning the 2022 Taranaki Share Farmer of the Year and placed third at the National awards. “We were ecstatic to win the Taranaki award, let alone get a placing at National’s which was incredible. There were a lot of top operators from around the country and you’re just thinking we’re in the same room as these guys.” Currently variable order sharemilkers on a 134 hectare/450 cow farm in Kaponga, half way between Stratford and Hawera, entering the 2022 awards was perfect timing as the process helped the couple focus on their transition to 50/50 on a neighbouring property on the 1st of June. “Putting our presentation together made us analyse things in a lot more detail and we probably made better decisions for our new role. Taranaki farmers Murray and Rachel Perks won the 2022 Taranaki Share Farmer of the Year and placed third at the National awards. Lessons learned for multi-award winners Richard Loader For example, it prompted us to look at milk hedging and x a number of our costs.” One of the amazing things about Murray and Rachel’s rst entry ten years ago was that it was also their rst year dairy farming. Murray grew up on the property that he and Rachel currently farm, which is owned by his two uncles and aunty. After completing an agricultural degree Murray worked as a consultant for Dairy NZ in Hamilton for a couple of years. Murray had met Rachel in Christchurch when they were both studying, and Rachel later worked in Hamilton as a speech language therapist. “We saw a lot of good young sharemilkers who were doing well and we thought we might as well have a go before we got too much older. Because I’d been consulting and had some pretty good support from our rst farm owner, and my uncle was pretty close by, we were able to go straight into a sharemilking role in Opunake.” After completing two seasons the couple were offered the opportunity to go into equity partnership near Hokitika. “Cow prices were high, milk price was high. As we all know, the milk price went from a record high to a record low. We only survived two years of that and sold out at a pretty big loss. We ended up coming back here to start over again. We’ve managed to repay debt and build up our equity again to buy some cows for next season.” In addition to farming, Murray has a number of industry roles in the community which he enjoys and looks forward to continuing into the future. “We were ecstatic to win the Taranaki award, let alone get a placing at National’s which was incredible. There were a lot of top operators from around the country and you’re just thinking we’re in the same room as these guys.” Congratulations to Murray and Rachel. We’re very proud to be your agri-business partner; working with you on long-term planning and forecasting, tax and software, and providing strategic advisory services. %W 2>(-% 7LEVI *EVQIV ƼREPMWXW ]SYƅVI XLI cream of the crop! Straight to the top! www.bakertillysr.nz ACCOUNTANCY HR INSOLVENCY MARKETING IT AUDIT TAXATION
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