By Beckie Wilson
A farmer’s hard work in itself may be rewarding, but a prize worth $10,000 is even better.
The winners of the Wairarapa Heifer Calf Replacement competition were announced yesterday at Masterton’s Keiznley Agvet store.
Out of about 20 entries, Tiana Potangaroa and Jamie Carter, co-owners of Nireaha Farms Limited, snapped up the prize.
It included an assortment of things ranging from books and clothes to stock feed, vouchers, and farm equipment.
All prizes came from Keinzley Agvet suppliers.
The Eketahuna couple entered their mob of heifer calves (female calves for future milking) into the competition about a month ago, and said they would be likely to enter again.
“It’s really awesome [to win], and it was a great opportunity to get involved,” Mrs Potangaroa said.
The couple have co-owned the dairy farm with Mr Carter’s parents for about 10 years, where Mrs Potangaroa raises the calves.
Phil Keinzley, owner of Keinzley Agvet and organizer of the competition, said he recognized how easy it was for dairy farmers to lose focus of their calves when they needed the most attention.
“So it was an incentive to see who was doing well and how they were doing it,” he said.
“Farmers are so isolated out there, and we wanted to show that people in town are thinking about them, and that we depend on their success.”
Each herd of about 20 calves was judged by DairyNZ representatives from Wairarapa and Manawatu.
Abby Scott, from DairyNZ Wairarapa, said they were looking for a range of things including calf weight targets, health programmes, and individual and herd drenching.
“Overall we were really impressed with the entries as it’s great to put an emphasis on young calves and stock,” she said.
With the recent erratic weather the region has had, it was great to see the stock looked so good, she said.
Mr Keinzley said he hoped to make the competition an annual event.
