The 2024 Northland Share Farmers of the Year are proud of their high-quality and efficient milk production and remain dedicated to ongoing improvements to ensure their long-term competitiveness in the global market.
Jeremy and Kate Mounter were named winners of the 2024 Northland Share Farmer of the Year at the region’s annual awards dinner held at Copthorne Hotel and Resort Bay of Islands in Waitangi.
The other major winners were Kieran McCahon, the 2024 Northland Dairy Manager of the Year, with Quinn Hewlett named the region’s Dairy Trainee of the Year.
Due to the minimum number of finalists not being reached, Northland Share Farmer and Dairy Trainee entrants scores were benchmarked against the national average, with data collated from the 10 other regions.
This also means merit awards are awarded if the entrant achieved at the right level.
Jeremy and Kate are first-time entrants who feel a strong sense of control and alignment with their career path.
“We’ve been on Pepper Farm for three and a half seasons and spent the first two seasons shaping the farm into our desired vision,” they said.
“In our third year we really capitalised on this and now we are really reaping the benefits of our hard work and dedication.
“We’ve surrounded ourselves with a community of exceptional individuals and we wanted to showcase the outstanding efforts of our whole team and all the experts we collaborate with.”
They 50/50 sharemilk 330 cows on Moss and Margaret Pepper’s 131ha Kaeo property. They won $8250 in prizes and four merit awards.
Runners-up in the Northland Share Farmer of the Year category, presented by Fonterra, were Jordan Brown and Samantha Brown who are 50/50 sharemilking on McIntyre Farms Ltd 120ha farm at Okaihau, milking 240 cows.
The 2024 Northland Dairy Manager of the Year is Kieran McCahon, who won $5500 and four merit awards.
Runner-up Courtney West won $1675 in prizes and two merit awards.
Dyllan Matthews was placed third and won $1250.
The Northland Dairy Trainee of the Year is Quinn Hewlett who is farm assistant for the Rangihamama Omapere Trust’s 560-cow, 219ha property at Kaikohe. He won $6750 in prizes and one merit award.
Runner-up in the Northland Dairy Trainee category was Michaela McCracken, who is farm assistant on Greg and Ingrid McCracken’s 17ha Wellsford property, milking 370 cows. She won $1,250 in prizes and two merit awards.
