| 21 nzdairy DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS » Omana Farms The 113 ha farm in Dunsandel is irrigated with two pivots. Got a taste before and after school in Lincoln Virginia Wright George Dodson’s early years were spent on a dairy farm in Southland before his parents decided to move north to Canterbury and make a break from farming. Perhaps that explains why he got such a taste for it while doing casual dairy farm work before and after school in Lincoln outside Christchurch. When the pandemic in 2020 stopped him attending Camp America as a school leaver he soon found a position working full time on the dairy farm where he’d spent some of his holidays, starting as herd manager for Tony Dodunski, and very quickly working his way up to 2 I C (Second In Command). By part way through his second season he became Farm Manager at the age of 20. “Tony was pretty confident in my abilities, I’d worked mainly for him so he taught me pretty much everything I know and I credit him with teaching me a lot of important stuff like having a good work ethic ,” says George. Looking for a different challenge took George back to Southland to manage a dairy farm before heading back to Canterbury to be close to family and where he had a strong network. He knew Andrew Slater who owns Omana Farm from his time doing casual dairy work, and started there as his 2 I C last season with Andrew as owner-operator before again quickly moving up to Farm Manager. The 113 hectare farm in Dunsandel, System 4, irrigated with two pivots, it’s typical flat Canterbury land milking 440 X-bred cows on a 36 bale rotary which George thinks will reward their drive towards higher performance. “They’re good quality cows with the herd BW about 250 which puts us just outside the top 10% in New Zealand. We’ll do this year about 515kg a cow which is about 2000kgs milk solids a hectare” he says. With a planned change of feed mix for next season they’re hoping to get closer to 530 per cow. “There’s quite a big jump in supplementary feed going in. Currently we just feed grain in shed and a bit of molasses and silage in the paddock but next year the in-shed feed will have a blend of grain, tapioca and a bit of DDG ((Dried Distillers Grain). They source their feed as locally as possible, and as a Synlait supplier and part of their Lead with Pride Programme they lose their premium if they use certain feeds such as Palm Kernel and Soy. “We aim to use supplementary feed that’s good for cows’ performance and good for the environment as well as being within what we’re allowed to use so that’s all aligned with Synlait,” explains George George puts some of his success down to what he’s learnt through entering various annual New Zealand Dairy Awards over the last few years. While in Southland he entered Dairy Manager of the year having got a taste for it the year before when entering Trainee of the Year in Canterbury, and placing third. “It lit a fire in me to win at least the regional competition at some point,” says George. In Southland he was runner-up and came runner up again in Canterbury last year. This year he put in a lot more preparation and drawing on previous learnings, including his win of Young Farmer of the Year 2024, he was able to articulate not only what he did on the farm but why he did things that way. He thinks that’s why he finally won Dairy Manager of the Year for Canterbury/North Otago coming third in the nationals. He’s now got his sights set on purchasing a dairy farm in equity partnership with his wider family, and looking forward to being in a position to give back to the community and the people who have given him so much already on his way through. 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 Ph 573 7606 Farm Animals • Comprehensive Farm Services • Farm Supplies • Painless Calf Disbudding • In Calf Advisory Service • Ultrasound & Manual Pregnancy Testing • Healthy Udder, Mastitis Advisory Service Horses • General Equine Vet Work • Branding & Microchipping • Castration, Dentistry & AI • Worm Pastes, Supplements & Accessories www.tepukevets.co.nz
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=