26 | nzdairy DAIRY AWARDS » Chaminda and Thalinka Wijesooriya Couple ‘proud of how far we’ve come’ Chum Wijesooriya with the Woodleigh Farm herd. Inset: Chum and Thilanka. Anne Boswell After a few false starts, Chaminda and Thilanka Wijesooriya are living their Kiwi farming dream. Chaminda, or ‘Chum’, is contract milking 700 cows on 270ha near Masterton, for Cameron, Duncan and Andrea Stuart (Woodleigh Farm Trust). Chum grew up in Sri Lanka, where he helped his grandfather run the family farm of eight cows. “I just loved animals, and I wanted to learn more about animal husbandry,” he says. Chum attended Sri Lanka School of Agriculture Kundasale, gaining a Diploma in Agriculture in 2010. “My biggest dream was to become a dairy farmer,” he says. “And many people in Sri Lanka drink Anchor milk, so we saw many things related to the New Zealand dairy industry.” Excited to learn more, Chum applied for a two-year Visa to work as a dairy assistant in New Zealand. Despite a disappointing start with substandard working conditions, Chum’s Sri Lankan friend, Daminda Gajamange, found him another position, at Canterbury Grasslands Ltd Dairy 3. “It was a great opportunity to learn about New Zealand’s grass-based system,” Chum says. He was quickly promoted to assistant farm manager and spent five years on the farm. In 2017 he married Thilanka and she moved to New Zealand. “She is my backbone,” Chum says. “She encourages me all the time and says together, we will take the next step to own our own business.” Over the next few years, Chum worked his way up the farming ladder, achieving residency and becoming a farm manager. Three times he experienced the sale of the farms he worked on, before finally moving to his current contract milking job in the 2022/23 season. Thanks to Chum, the business had its best season yet, achieving 300,000kgMS – almost 30,000kgMS more than their record. In the 2023/24 season they added 50 cows to the herd and are tracking 6% above their target. “We might do another 20,000kgMS yet,” Chum says. “Having experience with grass-based systems has been very valuable.” Chum says his dream is to become a sharemilker, hopefully within the next four years. “We believe we can do it,” he says. “We managed to purchase our own home in Masterton and now we need to save some more money to buy a herd. “We welcomed our first daughter in 2019 and have another baby due in August, so we will do it for them.” The couple entered the Dairy Industry Awards this season, placing third in the 2024 Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Share Farmer of the Year. “We would like to enter again once we buy our own herd,” Chum says. “It was a good experience.” Next season, Woodleigh is increasing the herd size again, to 750 cows, which Chum will manage with his three staff. “We are a firm believer of what goes around, comes around – one day we will have good things, too,” Chums says. “We are migrants, coming here with only a little knowledge of the New Zealand dairy industry. We are very proud of how far we’ve come.” “We managed to purchase our own home in Masterton and now we need to save some more money to buy a herd. “We welcomed our first daughter in 2019 and have another baby due in August, so we will do it for them.” Services · Driveways · Septic tanks · Farm excavations - drainage, tracks, metaling · House sites · Metal/Lime cartage · Drainage And More.... EXPERIENCED EARTHMOVING AND CARTAGE OPERATOR Contact us, We can handle any job large or small
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