Southland Sharemilkers Fired With Determination

29 January 2007

Southland Sharemilkers Fired With Determination

It’s hard to keep a good dairy team down. Not even the total destruction of their dairy shed got in the way of Southland sharemilkers Graham and Glenda Haynes taking part in the inaugural Dairy Industry Awards

As judging in the awards in 12 regions begins around New Zealand the Haynes might have been forgiven for thinking twice about going ahead with their entry. But that’s simply not the defeatist way that makes New Zealand’s dairy industry as strong as it is today.

Just before Christmas an electrical fault in the Haynes dairy shed metre box resulted in the complete destruction of the building.

Chemicals from the blaze produced powerful toxic fumes with flames devouring the total shed, office and engine room. Graham was rushed by ambulance to hospital from the farm, suffering smoke inhalation but just a few hours later, he was back on the job to undertake a 2am milking.

“We missed just the one milking,” he recalls. “The cows were in peak production. We couldn’t afford to miss any more.”

Far from feeling sorry for themselves for the setback, the Haynes are instead more grateful and overcome by the support they have received from suppliers and neighbours to get them back into full production.

“RD1, Fonterra and Ecolab (all sponsors of the Dairy Industry Awards) representatives all came to the party and set us up with a 30 a-side herring bone shed so we were back in business from the next day. The neighbours have been great providing paddocks and a water system. And our farm owners, Bev and Gary Sweney, and our staff have all been so supportive it’s unbelievable.”

The way in which community rallied around them helped convince the Haynes to follow through on their determination to take part in the 2007 Dairy Industry Awards Sharemilker of the Year competition.

While many others might have been daunted by the fire setback, the Haynes decided that they would not let anything stand in the way of the strategic goal they set themselves six months ago.

“We attended a strategic planning course to plan our future and one of our midterm goals was to take part in the Sharemilker of the Year. We saw it as an important learning curve both professionally and personally and an opportunity to rub shoulders with people we could learn from,” says Graham.

The couple moved from the Waikato six years ago to convert and manage a dairy farm in Gore. They are now on their second season on the Sweney farm at Woodlands where they milk 530 cows with the help of two full-time staff.

Longterm, the Haynes hope to embark on an equity partnership and eventually farm ownership. But for now, their sights are set on the regional Sharemilker of the Year title.

The Haynes, along with competitors in 12 regions around New Zealand, will be judged over the next few weeks in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards which comprise Sharemilker of the Year as well as Farm Manager of the Year and Dairy Trainee of the Year.

Regional winners of the Sharemilker of the Year and the Farm Manager of the Year will go on to compete for the national title to be announced in Invercargill on May 12, 2007. Regional winners of Dairy Trainee of the Year Awards win a study trip to Australia.

Alison Watters, chairperson of the Dairy Industry Awards management committee, says stories such as that of the Haynes demonstrate the determination and optimism of people in the industry.

“And it’s great to see our sponsors getting behind people like the Haynes – they’re a committed bunch comprising Westpac, Dairy InSight, Fonterra, RD1 LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown, Federated Farmers, Ecolab, Honda and ACC, along with industry partner Dexcel.”

For full details of the Dairy Industry Awards’ calendar/awards evenings go to www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz

ENDS

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