Special Awards 2025
2 May 2025 – South Auckland
Distinguished Members Award – Rodney & Jocelyn Dobson
Rodney and Jocelyn Dobson first registered the Ashvale Jersey stud in 1971. Rodney’s passion for the Jersey breed goes back to his childhood in Taranaki, where both his father and uncle had Jersey herds. Ashvale was the prefix for Rodneys uncles herd, which Rodney and Jocelyn subsequently chose once they became herd owners.
Rodney and Jocelyn farmed on the Hauraki Plains for more than a decade before moving to Southland in 1993 where they have farmed and bred exceptional Jerseys
Rodney and Jocelyn proved that jerseys and Southland are a great mix, and expanded their operation over the years. A highlight on the Southland calendar was the Ashvale bull sale – attracting buyers from around Southland, setting record prices for their well recorded high BW bulls.
Rodney and Jocelyn regularly supported the Jersey Pride Sale, offering elite animals from their herd. Rodney has also been a TOP inspector and classifier.
Despite dispersing their herd, Rodney and Jocelyn remain staunch supporters of the jersey cow – with a firm belief that there is an important role for jerseys in the future of dairy farming in New Zealand.
Rodney was one of the visionary Jersey farmers who set up Jersey Advantage Trust, which advocates for and promotes the economic, environmental and animal well-being benefits of the breed and he remains actively involved on the Jersey Advantage Trust Board.
A highlight in 2021 was the launch of Jerseyland Farms, a joint venture farm investment involving Jersey Advantage, Jersey NZ and five private investors.
It is the lifetime advocacy of the jersey cow, along with Rodneys and Jocelyns on-going commitment to Jerseyland Farms that JerseyNZ recognises in the distinguished members award.
Mr & Mrs J W Singers Efficiency Scroll – Josh & Aleshia Macdonald
Presented to the person who has done the most or been the most active in promoting & publicising the Jersey breed and the Association. The award covers all phases of a breeder’s activities including testing, showing, breed promotion and administration.
Of Poplarbrae Jerseys, Josh and Aleshia are excellent candidates for the award. The MacDonald family have a big history of showing and Jersey breeding. Josh’s great-grandfather had Poplarbrae Jerseys in Nukuhou which was purchased by his grandfather after the War. It was subsequently lost by the next generation and Josh and Aleshia have worked hard to bring back the herd.
The Macdonalds sharemilk for Te Arawa Lakes Trust in Maketu with their 4 children and are both extremely passionate Jersey breeders. They entered the Semex On Farm Challenge and have done well every year. They have virtually rebuilt and revitalised the Te Puke A&P show Dairy cattle section and they Enter A&P shows all over the North Island with their stock and are also excellent commercial farmers.
They are hard working people with no inherited wealth and have built what they have from nothing. Josh can trace pedigrees of all his animals. They are extremely busy family focussed unsung heroes of the Jersey Breed who demonstrate leadership and embody Jerseydom.
Cyril Dermer Cup – Trent Paterson
Outstanding services to the Jersey breed and JerseyNZ
Having just completed a Bachelor of Agriculture at Massey University at the tender age of 22, Trent Paterson began his career managing a 720ha deer farm with 4 staff, north of Helensville. While there, he and his wife Judy had their first child Reece. As Reece was the first grandchild on both sides of the family, the pull to move closer to family grew and after three years in a job he loved, Trent handed in his notice and moved to his family to the Waikato.
If you want to be a deer farmer, the Waikato wasn’t going to offer many opportunities to progress, but together Trent and Judy made the decision to work hard for the next 10 years in the dairy industry, to move up through the ranks and build their equity.
Their first position was managing a Jersey herd in Mangawera Rd in Morrinsville. During this year their second son Callum was born and Trent began actively applying for contract milking positions. A year later they moved to a Lower order sharemilking position to Ngutunui, South of Pirongia, milking 650 crossbreds and Friesians on a high input system.
In 2004 Trent and Judy secured their first sharemilking position on No 7 Rd Morrinsville milking 400 Jersey cows. Enter Andy Walford. Trent had gone to school with Andy, and he encouraged Trent to join the local Jersey Club, and it wasn’t long before he was involved with various committees. A strong interest in cows and the desire to register cows with JerseyNZ ensued. In 2005 Hannah was born and inspired by his children’s names, the Calrenah prefix was registered.
2008 was to prove to be a pivotal year for Trent and Judy for two reasons. Firstly, they went into partnership with Andy Walford and purchased Silver Falls LP Beauty at the Boulevard clearing sale for $8000, the top price for the sale. Through an intensive flushing programme, they gained multiple daughters, one of which was offered for the JerseyNZ Pride sale the following year. She was purchased for $5000 by the Horopito herd.
The sojourn into embryo work made Trent realise that to speed up the development of good genetics he needed to buy established genetics and breed from them, buying 30 – 40 cows from the Williams and Roscliff studs.
Leveraging off the high value in stock evident that year, the second event to happen in 2008 was the purchase of a 500ha block consisting of 9 paddocks on hilly country on Mangawara Rd, Tahuna on which he placed 350 empty cows. This property affectionally became known as Mount Moo!! Needless to say, his friends thought he had lost the plot.
From breeding, Trent moved into marketing and was a strong supporter of the Waikato Invitational Sale.
He bred a bull for CRV called Calrenah AND Watchman. The royalties gained were going to be his retirement fund however unfortunately the bull was killed at the CRV centre a year later. To this day there are 2500 daughters of Watchman in herds throughout the country.
The JerseyGenome programme began in 2008 and Trent was an inaugural member. He had an elite heifer graduate from this scheme, a Watchman daughter, Calrenah AND Willow.
In 2011, at the age of 35, Trent became the youngest board member to be elected to the JerseyNZ board. He readily acknowledges this was not a great period in history for JerseyNZ but he remained on the board for 6 years, during which time was involved with the Genetics committee and took an active interest in Jersey Marketing which he remained involved with when he left the board in 2017.
After 10 years at No 7 Rd, the farm was to be sold. Trent and Judy purchased the herd and then their first farm, a 92ha block at Karapiro. Six months later the neighbour came for coffee with offer of first right of purchase of his 140ha deer farm. With the sale of Mount Moo, Trent and Judy had come full circle.
This background story highlights Trent’s amazing ability to think strategically supported by a strong business acumen. Together with Ross Riddell and latterly Warren Berry and Nigel Riddell, Jersey Marketing developed to rebrand as Link Livestock Ltd. From the meetings around the kitchen table to the Directorship structure it is today, Trent was pivotal in this development and became chair. Trent has a strong understanding of the stock market eccentricities and the amazing ability to cut through the “noise” of a budget and focus on its true worth.
JerseyNZ and Link Livestock have been very fortunate that Trent has been prepared to devote a considerable amount of time and ability to both organizations.
No doubt there have been times when he has been torn between doing spread sheets or planning his next hunting trip.
It is with pleasure that the Board of Jersey New Zealand present the Cyril Dermer Cup for outstanding services to the Jersey Breed and Jersey Association in the past twelve months and indeed many years prior.
Special Awards 2024
Mr & Mrs J W Singers Efficiency Scroll – Steve Ireland
Cyril Dermer Cup – Alison Gibb
Special Awards 2023
Distinguished Members Award – Rob & Alison Thwaites
Mr & Mrs J W Singers Efficiency Scroll – Roger Ellison
Cyril Dermer Cup – Ross Riddell
George Henry Dawick Memorial Cup – Mark & Diane Townshend
Honorary Life Membership – David Ireland
Nominations for the next George Henry Darwick Memorial Cup winner can be be submitted below:
George Henry Dawick Memorial Cup Nomination