Eight of the country’s hottest rural talents have been painting the town Honda red since Saturday 15 May, after a glitzy Rotorua awards ceremony revealed them as national winners of the sought-after 2010 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards, proudly sponsored by Honda.

Bagging essential Honda farm kit – 2-wheel farm bikes, ATVs, hedge trimmers and power generators – with a collective retail value of $70,000, the energetic eight fought off fierce competition from 28 fellow national finalists, from 12 regions across the country, to win 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place titles in their respective categories.

South African sharemilkers Stefan and Annalize du Plessis, from Dipton in Southland, scooped the prestigious Sharemilker of the Year title for what head sharemilker judge Johanna Deutz Ebeling called their “infectious ‘X factor’ personalities”, teamed with their outstanding pasture management skills and drive to make a difference on the NZ dairy industry scene. They also won the NZ Honda Farm Safety & Health Merit Award for exceptional safety knowledge and performance.

The du Plessis’ 50% sharemilk 650 cows on a 240ha farm, owned by Mosa Farming Ltd, and they enjoy a strong relationship with their farm owners and staff, displaying a flair for delivering continued training to their employees. It is their short-term goal to increase their stake in Mosa Farming from 40% to 100%. They went home with $39,300 in cash and prizes, including a powerful Honda EP2200 generator and a trustworthy Honda TRX420FPM farm ATV, complete with an impressive list of features including selectable 4WD/2WD, fuel injection and electric power steering.

Second place was won by Ashburton’s Jeremy and Rebecca Duckmanton, who are fast achieving their goal to increase their equity from $350,000 in 2009, to more that $1million by 2013, through their 19% sharemilking position with a large herd of 1200 cows. They won $20,000 in cash and prizes, including Honda’s CTX200 farm bike, custom built to meet New Zealand’s demanding farming conditions.

Taranaki 50% sharemilkers Greg and Hannah Topless placed third after demonstrating a huge passion for their stock on a 96ha farm at Toko, lifting their 280-strong herd’s reproductive performance, genetic gain and somatic cell count levels to achieve top production despite a challenging environment. They won $17,000 in cash and prizes, which included Honda’s EU20 generator.

Dairy Trainee of the Year first prize winner was community-minded 26-year-old Blake Korteweg, who works on a Balclutha family farm milking 560 cows. He was praised for his communication skills and was hailed as “a fantastic ambassador” for diary trainees. His rewards total $8,600 in cash and prizes, amongst which he receives a Honda NRX125ES farm bike, worth $4,499.

Second place went to Andrea Harvey, who works on a 145ha farm milking 350 cows near Blenheim. She won $3,200, including a Honda Hedge Trimmer worth $999.

The Farm Manager of the Year Award was a closely fought contest, with a high level of farm excellence observed by head judge David Whillans. Carwyn “Monty” Monteith, aged 38, marched ahead of his competitors to win the influential title and an impressive $18,400 in cash and prizes, including a Honda CTX200 farm bike, which retails at $5,499.

Speaking of Monteith’s management ability, Whillans said: “Carwyn has got life skills external to dairy farming, so brings a whole wealth of experience and maturity to his role. He displayed a comprehensive knowledge across all areas we judged and this was supported with good processes and documentation. He had an excellent human resources policy, employing on attitude and training on skill.”

Carwyn and his wife have secured a sharemilking position for the new season on the 188ha Takapau farm they currently manage, milking 515 cows.

Ashburton equity managers Hamish and Natalie Davidson placed second, winning a Honda EP2200 generator amongst $9,100 in cash and prizes. The “go-getter” couple is equity managing a 440ha farm milking 1500 cows.

Prior to the Awards taking place, Saturday morning saw all national sponsors team up at random with a selection of national finalists ready for a challenging, orienteering-style race around Rotorua. Heavy rain aside, “Team Honda” pulled out all the stops to prove it was No.1 by storming the score boards in physical and mental agility tasks, including clay pigeon shooting with laser shotguns, speed-eating dry Weet-bix, tricycle circuit racing and bridge building. Activities were rewarded with a cryptic clue revealing the location of the next task.

Although marginally missing out on a first place points win to fellow sponsor team LIC, thanks to their crafty use of bribes to influence activities coordinators’ grading, Team Honda sped through the finish line before all others, proudly counting two of the three eventual NZDIA grand prize winners – Stefan du Plessis and Blake Korteweg – amongst its crew of talented stars. Great fun was had by all and every finalist spoke of the strong friendships they had developed over the course of the three days of educational activity and networking.

The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors Honda, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown, RD1 and Westpac, along with industry partner Agriculture ITO. For a complete list of national and regional winners, visit www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz.