| 7 nzdairy DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS » Courtney West and Greg Partington Courtney West’s top gong and five merit awards Richard Loader A former adventure tourism worker who swapped adrenaline rushes for the dairy industry has been crowned the 2025 Northland Dairy Manager of the Year. Courtney West, who manages Greg Partington and Nicola Murray’s 147-hectare Tomarata farm, walked away with the prestigious title along with an impressive five merit awards. “It took me by surprise to be honest. But it’s been really cool and a boost in self-confidence,” says Courtney. “I don’t have many friends who are farmers so the grand finals were a good networking opportunity.” The 26-year-old’s achievement represents a remarkable career transition, having only entered the dairy industry in 2020 following the collapse of her previous profession. “Until 2020 I worked in Queenstown in zipline, jetboating and skydiving companies,” explains Courtney. “I needed a career change when covid destroyed the tourism industry and I haven’t looked back.” Now approaching her third season managing the 350-cow operation, Courtney’s rapid rise through the ranks demonstrates her natural aptitude for dairy farming. Last year, she was runner-up in the same category, building on her third-place finish in the 2023 Manawatu Dairy Trainee category. Her sweep of merit awards reflects her comprehensive approach to farm management. These included the CowManager Livestock Management Award, where she impressed judges with her focus on animal health and breeding programmes. “I have a lot of passion for young stock health, it’s a big focus for me,” says Courtney. “The calving was going for too long when I came to this position so we changed the plan to better suit this split calving farm.” Her reduction of artificial insemination and putting the cows out to the bull has prevented overlapping calving seasons, significantly improving animal health outcomes. Milk quality excellence earned her the Fonterra Dairy Management Award: “The big thing was keeping a good eye on somatic cell count. When I first started here there were a lot of alerts and grades and I didn’t want that,” says Courtney. “So we are now sitting under 90 and in the excellence area and getting the Co-operative of Difference Te Puku Award for 30 days of excellence from Fonterra and we are about to get the Te Tihi for 100 days of excellence.” Her third merit award came for pasture and feed management, with judges impressed by her detailed approach. “It’s an area I am new to but having my feed wedges on display on boards for the judges’ assessment so they could see what I was doing helped I think. I do weekly pasture walks to know the changes in the paddocks,” explains Courtney. Courtney West manages Greg Partington and Nicola Murray’s 147-hectare Tomarata farm. Environmental sustainability represents another area where Courtney has made significant improvements, earning her fourth merit award. “The main thing here was focusing on the effluent system,” says Courtney, who personally undertook improvements around the effluent area. Her team’s efficiency measures have reduced water and power usage while maintaining productivity despite decreasing stocking numbers from 1,000 to 700 cows. Her fifth merit award recognised personal planning and financial management, with Courtney and her partner Colin Beazley, who is the farm operations manager, demonstrating sound financial planning. Unlike many in the industry, Courtney’s ambitions lie not in farm ownership but in becoming a dairy cow nutritionist. Alongside PrimaryITO courses she has Brendon Browne Director Rodney Honda 74 Hudson Road, Warkworth Phone 09 945 3989 Mobile 021 0238 7572 E-mail sales@rodneyhonda.co.nz www.rodneyhonda.co.nz completed in milk harvesting, livestock husbandry and pastoral livestock production, she is currently studying towards a Bachelor’s degree in Agriscience through Massey University online. “It’s definitely not easy to keep focused but it’s a long-term goal.”
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