16 | nzdairy DAIRY AWARDS » Hayden & Bridget Goble Putting their stamp on family business 2023 NZDIA National Winners: NZ Dairy Trainee of the Year - Bill Hamilton, NZ Sharefarmers of the Year - Bridget & Hayden Goble, NZ Dairy Manager of the Year - Jack Symes. With a strong partnership and a genuine passion for the industry, Hayden and Bridget Goble from Tataraimaka, Taranaki were named Sharefarmer of the Year at the 2023 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards. The couple are equity partners with Hayden’s parents Kevin and Diane Goble on their 200ha, 565 cow farm. While Hayden runs the farm, Bridget is an emergency department consultant at New Plymouth and Hawera Hospitals. The Gobles have put their own stamp on the family business since coming home to the farm six years ago, with competition judges noting they challenged the status quo with their practices. “When we had kids we could see that we couldn’t work as hard as we used to,” Bridget says. “Hayden’s parents had this farm for 25 years and they were a great partnership, but with me working I can’t have the hands-on role that Diane has on the farm. We had to figure out a way that works for us.” Bridget says the beauty of working with Kevin Kelly Deeks and Diane is their openness and willingness to run the business in a different way, despite the success they enjoyed under their own system. “This has always been a high-performing farm, so it’s never been about increasing production, rather how to keep it a high-performing farm but make it more streamlined with new infrastructure so we can run the farm as one herd.” The Goble’s farm has previously run two herds with a yard and a feed pad capable of holding only half the number of cows on the farm. A new covered feed pad and yard extension were built four years ago, not only allowing the family to consolidate their herd, but also to put six hectares of former winter cropping and sacrificed paddocks back into the system. Hayden and Bridget have a beautiful farm, halfway between Taranaki maunga and the coastline, with the Timaru Stream as a border and part of their farm adjacent to Egmont National Park. They are super aware of their contribution to the local ecosystem and even took out the Federated Farmers Leadership award for their community engagement. A local pest-free strategy sees stoat traps positioned on the farm as well as regular possum trapping programmes and currently the Gobles, along with the Taranaki Regional Council, Fonterra,NIWA, neighbours, and local iwi groups are taking part in a joint venture to remove a historic weir from the “This has always been a high-performing farm, so it’s never been about increasing production, rather how to keep it a high-performing farm but make it more streamlined with new infrastructure so we can run the farm as one herd.” Timaru Stream to allow safe fish passage up to the national park. This season Hayden is working with a herd manager, a farm assistant, and two international agriculture students from the Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki. For Hayden, this move is as much about doing his bit to bring new talent into the dairy industry as it is about getting enthusiastic hands on the farm. “These guys are really committed,” he says. “They have paid a lot of money to be here and to do this course, so they are definitely wanting to learn and work as hard as they can. They have a great attitude which is most of the battle.” Hayden and Bridget have already made some savings on their labour requirement with their adoption of Allflex collars for the past four seasons. The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards have provided the Gobles with massive gains in their farming careers. Aside from some amazing networking opportunities with inspiring and innovative people from the industry, the broad scope of judging criteria had them undergo a very beneficial evaluation of every aspect of their farm and their business.
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