Putaruru farmer wins regional award

Putaruru farmer Thomas White has beaten off stiff local competition to take out the annual Waikato regional farm manager award.

At just 23, the NZ Dairy Waikato Farm Manager of the Year is stoked to have landed a spot in the finals for top farm manager nation-wide.

“The fact I won was good and I am going to put my best foot forward for the Waikato, but I didn’t enter the Waikato regionals to win.

“It was a good opportunity to benchmark myself against others, mix with the other good guys entering the competition, to network, and get feedback from the judges about your strengths and weaknesses.”

This is the first year the manager of his family partnerships’ 112ha Whites Road property has entered the competition and he credits the support of the rural community, family and past NZ Dairy winners for getting him to the nationals.

“My neighbour and sort of mentor told me to enter and I thought I’d give it a crack. There is a lot of help in the industry, guys are willing to help. They’re just a phone call away. The past winners even, I definitely knew there was a lot of help out there.”

The fourth-generation farmer said he found the competition gave him a chance to stand back and take an outside look at how he was farming.

And the ultimate goal of farm ownership is nearing as Mr White has purchased his first herd in preparation for next spring – when he will become sharemilker on the family’s newly purchased 85ha Dukeson Road farm.

Mr White hosted a Farm Open Day recently to discuss his chosen practices for pasture, soil and other aspects of farm management.

He and the other regional winners head to Auckland this May for the nationals at the Sky City Convention Centre.