Dairy Industry Award win provides opportunities

27 October 2016

New Zealand Dairy Industry Award win provides opportunities to further career

The 2016 New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year firmly believes that winning the competition has given him opportunities he wouldn’t otherwise have been exposed to.

Thomas Chatfield, 31, says the win has opened many doors for him and given him opportunities he wouldn't have had, such as being asked to talk to the leaders of New Zealand agricultural companies to possible job opportunities.

Entries are currently open for this year’s awards, and Thomas says people thinking about entering need to just relax and be themselves. “Show the judges how you make the farm work and what difference you make to the farm,” he advises.

After winning the 2013 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year, Thomas had a better understanding of how the awards worked and feels that the win, and the experience of competing at the National final, stood him in good stead when he entered for a second time. “After coming second at the National final, I made a private goal with myself to enter as a manager and win. I didn't tell anyone about this, but going to the awards and coming second was a strong motivation to come back and go one better.”

Thomas’ approach to the competitions was simple – ‘little and often’. “I wanted to show the judges how I made the farm work. So, I started to prepare for judging early – doing little things, often. When I was working on different aspects of the farm, I tried to think of ways I could best present the information, and when I had to make a decision, I noted why I decided that was the best course of action to take for that problem or situation,” he explains.

Thomas still farms on the property he was on when he won Farm Manager, which is Bruce and Judy Woods 150 hectare (ha) farm in Whakatane, milking 500 Jersey cows and aiming to produce 200,000kgms.

“Aside from opening up doors, winning the national title provided me with an opportunity to receive free advice on our farming system, and I got to benchmark myself against the best in the industry,” says Thomas.

“It also looks great on my CV,” he laughs. “I have just started looking for a job for next season and I’m proud to have the having the national title of 2016 New Zealand Dairy Manager of the year next to my name.”

Entries close for the 2017 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards on November 30th, and Thomas believes there is no point waiting for the ‘right time’ to enter.

“Just do it. Yes, there is a lot of work involved but it’s no extra work in itself, the process is just highlighting the things you are already doing on the farm and explaining why you do them,” he says. “Worst case you get some useful feedback to make your business better. Best case you win and get to enjoy all that goes with winning.”

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