Two Ashburton locals took the top spot at this year’s regional dairy industry awards.

The Canterbury and North Otago New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards saw farmers and businesses from across the regions come Ashburton’s way to celebrate the best of dairying.

Lismore-based couple Richard Grabham and Nikita Baker won the regional Share Farm of the Year award, which they said was a “complete shock.”

“Didn’t expect that at all, really,” Grabham said.

“We entered it just on a whim,” added Baker, “thinking it was good to put ourselves out there.”

Grabham and Baker also won the DairyNZ People and Culture award, the LIC Animal Wellbeing, Recording and Productivity Award, the Trelleborg Sustainable Pasture Award.

“The LIC recording [award] was my section, the pasture [award] was Richard’s section, and the people and culture [award] was for both of us.

“We’re a really good team.”

Dunsandel’s Josh and Becs Dondertman were the category’s runners up.

The pair won the Federated Farmers Leadership award and ASB Business Performance award, no surprise given their community involvement and Josh’s role as the national Rural Support Trust deputy chairperson.

Waimate-based contract milkers Martynas and Nukilanic Sinkus came in third, taking out the FarmRight Environmental Sustainability award and Ecolab Total Farm Hygiene & Innovation award.

It wasn’t Grabham and Baker’s first rodeo with the awards.

“I entered the Trainee of the Year four or five years ago, and Richard entered for Manager, so we knew what it was about,” Baker said.

She said they owed their awards to their staff and the farm owner, Baker’s dad, for being open to new systems and methods.

“We’ve got a farm owner who likes to experiment, and we’re willing to try things with that.”

“We’re not normal, that’s for sure,” farm owner Geoff Baker quipped.

He said it was good to see the pair recognised with the award and said they’d “worked hard for it” over the last three years.

Grabham said he was “absolutely stoked” and wasn’t expecting to take anything home on the night.

“Hopefully we can bring it back down to Canterbury,” he said.

But until the national awards dinner in May, it’s straight home to the shed for Grabham and Baker.

“We’re calving, so back to work as normal.”

The other big winners were Darfield’s George Dodson, the regional Dairy Manager of the Year, and Duntroon’s Caleb Smith, Trainee of the Year.

Mayfield’s Kate Schuurmans was runner up for Trainee of the year, and Ashburton’s Thomas Coates came in third.

Kuljeet Singh, who manages James and Lynley Proctor’s 725-cow Ashburton farm, was third place for Farm Manager of the Year.

Other local winners were Elain Williams (Ashburton), Jack Taggart (Ashburton) and Levi Hart (Ashburton).

by Anisha Satya