Special Awards 2019
Jersey NZ is delighted to announce the following Special Awards made at the recent Annual Conference in Dunedin.
The J T Thwaites Sire of the Season was presented to Alan & Vivienne Lockwood-Geck for 315008 Pukeroa AND Baratone ET, BW 264/83.
The Murray Harnett Junior Judging Trophy was presented to Luke Gilbert of Glenalla Jerseys, Ashburton.No formal judging was held this year due to the cancellation of the NZ Dairy Event. As a result, the trophy was presented to the member meeting the age criteria who certified through the Judging Schools with the highest points.
The Mr & Mrs J W Singer Efficiency Scroll was awarded to Colin Hickey. Colin joined the Lower Waikato Jersey Cattle Club on 5 February 2015, was nominated Senior Vice President in 2017 and is currently in his second year as Club President. While some may say he hasn’t been involved for very long, the club has been impressed at the level of participation both at club level and beyond motivated by his passion for the jersey breed. At club level he always participates in the annual trips, Heifer Competition, Type and Production Competition and while not in the show ring for the club show he encourages his two children, Thomas and Mikayla, to show – often with great success. Two years ago, Colin purchased the Kaitaka stud from his father Des and together they are enjoying watching the progress of their bulls, Kaitaka OI Leopard and Kaitaka OI Leroy in the LIC team, currently rated 3 and 14 on the RAS list for All Breeds. In 2015 Colin was one of the inaugural Youth Councillors and graduated from that programme in 2018. During this time Colin was actively seen supporting the youth at the Waikato A&P show “Next Generation” Sale and Dairy Event in Fielding where enjoys networking with members. Also, during his time on the Youth Council, Colin participated in the Marketing and Promotions Committee and is now the Convenor of this group. In 2018 he was invited to join the Jersey NZ Board for their Strategic Planning day where he impressed with his visionary thinking and active and constructive participation throughout the session. In 2017 Colin became President of the Te Kauwhata A&P show and with his enthusiasm, injected new life into this show by gaining greater sponsorship and took it beyond the animal show ring to involve the township in competitions such as best preserve or relish produced. Colin’s latest responsibilities were to organise the Club’s annual trip, visiting eight herds in National Park and Manawatu, and together with two other members, rewrite the criteria for the Gaydene Memorial Production Award so that it was more in tune with the measurement of LW.
Distinguished Member Awards were made to Margaret Pinny and Steve Ireland.
Margaret Pinny first joined Jersey NZ in 1967 when she and her late husband Rex first registered their Mapiu Jerseys. This early beginning has led to a lifelong passion for the jersey breed and jerseys have played a large part of her life in the following years. In the early years farming at Te Kuiti district Margaret joined the Te Kuiti/ Otorohanga jersey club before moving farms to Te Kauwhata and joining the Lower Waikato and Franklin Jersey clubs. In this period, as well as raising her own family, Margaret was a huge supporter of the Te Kauwhata A&P show and ran the calf club section for 20 years, She also was secretary to the private Jersey members sire proving scheme, along with the late Keith Scott and Graham Mercer, among others . This scheme proved to be a forerunner to what is now Jersey Future. In 1996, big changes came for the family and Margaret and Rex moved with their Daughter Megan and family to a farm in the Waihue Valley near Dargaville. They quickly joined the Northern Wairoa jersey club and in 2000 Margaret became secretary/treasurer, a position she holds to this day. She is also a recorder at the local Northern Wairoa A&P show and in the past was called upon many times to judge at local calf clubs. Organising judges for the club show and putting together the results are all jobs she does willingly and now as her great grandchildren are showing their calves she is always there giving them encouragement and tips on how they might do things better. Lately, along with daughter Megan, they have been running a youth section in the club bringing in new young members from jersey and all breed backgrounds and giving help and encouragement in all aspects of stock presentation.
The members of the JerseyNZ Board are delighted to nominate Mr Steven Ireland for the Jersey NZ Distinguished Members Award in recognition of his services to the Board and the breed. Steve joined the board in 2015, under the leadership of Mr Ross Riddell, where he quickly settled into the role of convenor of the Genetics committee. This comes as no surprise as during the last decade the Lynbrook stud has bred a plethora of high BW bulls for the dairy industry, many of which have progressed to into the LIC Premier Sires teams. Armed with this knowledge and expertise, Steve and the genetics committee collaborated with LIC to produce a catalogue of bulls for JerseyNZ to market, known as the Jersey Future team. We are now into our third catalogue and this project continues to develop and grow. Outside the board room Steve is actively involved with the Farmer Advisory Group for NZAEL, a group of invited farmers that was formed out of the original NZAEL user group. In this forum, information relating to the animal indexes are discussed and the impact on the different breeds are investigated. In June 2017 Steve stepped up to the role of Vice President which in his words “pushed him out of his comfort zone”. To his credit he rose to the challenge and has on numerous occasions proved to be of valuable support to the board. A highlight for Steve and his wife Nina came in 2018 with the induction of Lynbrook Terrific in the LIC’s Hall of Fame, an accolade exclusively reserved for animals whose achievements have had, and will continue to have, a profound influence on the profitability of New Zealand’s dairy farmers. A bull that was nicknamed “Mr Fix-it” because of his ability to sire outstanding conformation traits. A third-generation breeder, Steve is passionate about genetics and takes the view that changing dairy-industry forces are presenting opportunities, rather than threats, for the jersey breed. It is this positive approach to discussion that made him a valuable director and we have no hesitation in presenting this award.
The Cyril Dermer Cup for outstanding services to the Jersey Breed and the Association was presented to Roger Ellison. This award is nominated and presented by the Jersey NZ Board for activities over the preceding 12 months. In 2016 Roger was approached by the Board and asked to reinstate the Industry Affairs Committee and since then, under Roger’s leadership, this committee has worked tirelessly to develop positive working relationships with industry players such as LIC, DairyNZ, and NZAEL to name a few. As a result, many of the invited guests now ask when they can come back to visit the group as they value the connection and insights gained with jersey farmers. Roger believes strongly in the jersey breed and takes seriously the advocacy role that this committee plays. Rather than keeping this information within the group itself, Roger actively writes detailed and insightful articles for the Jersey Focus enlightening members of the information gathered and discussing the possible impacts on the jersey breed. A range of topics have been offered; “fat is back”, global warming and the dairy industry, breeding for Facial Eczema resistance, developments on production worth, on-farm data recording and its impact on NZAEL data outputs, opportunities in the beef market and so the list goes on. Roger and his wife Glenys, both trained veterinarians and partners in a vet diagnostic lab, turned to jersey farming after purchasing their farm in 2003 – the dream was realised and since then have fully embraced all aspects of the services of JerseyNZ; regular and successful contributors to the Jersey Genome programme, submitting a calf for the youth raffle, members of the Te Awamutu Jersey Club and then Roger finds time to write informative and thought provoking board reports on behalf of the committee often with recommendations of future actions arising from their discussions. Scott Townsend, a recently resigned member of the Industry Affairs Committee wrote to Roger and said:
“I wanted to say good luck for what’s ahead for the IAC. I think the progress that the group has made over the past few years has been positive. Given the nature of the content / work that the IAC covers it’s always going to be difficult to quantify tangible impacts, but I think the progress made in terms of being invited to the table for discussions with the likes of DairyNZ and LIC are great foundations to work with going forward. Presumably these relationships will take time to maintain and strengthen but should yield great results in the years to come.
The Board of Jersey NZ believes that Roger’s knowledge, passion and advocacy for the Jersey breed make him the ideal recipient of the Cyril Dermer Cup. Jersey NZ extends warmest congratulations and thanks to all Special Award recipients.