Agribusiness Report: Dairy champ sees huge opportunities

Ruth Hone is the first female recipient of the NZ Dairy Industry Dairy Trainee of the Year Award in the competition's history.

At secondary school, Ruth Hone studied agriculture by correspondence, the only member of her class interested in pursuing the option. Now aged 24, and the first female recipient of the NZ Dairy Industry Dairy Trainee of the Year Award in the competition's history, Hone has strong ambitions for success in the agricultural industry, and a plan to ensure that these goals are achieved.

Hone says she lives by the saying "opportunity comes to those who apply themselves," and this attitude was clear in her approach to the awards.

"It's definitely an honour and an amazing feeling to have achieved a goal I set since I joined the industry 3 years ago.

"I set a plan and started studying for this in November, and tried to leave no stone unturned. It's great that all the handwork, discipline and focus paid off."

Hone grew up on the farm, with parents who are dairy farmers, and believes she was born and bred to be a dairy farmer. Following her time at Nga Tawa (Wellington Diocesan), where she was head of Equestrian, Ruth gained a Bachelor of Applied Science, majoring in Agriculture, from Massey University.

"At Massey I got a solid theoretical background which I could build on practically," Hone said.

"I certainly think Massey did a great job of setting me up for farm management by covering all the core subjects, including practical reports and allowing us to study alongside farmers. They also put on professional development evenings where we could meet and align ourselves with industry professionals."

Currently in her third year of dairy farming, Ruth is now dairy second in charge, on a 120ha farm, with 400 jersey cross friesian cows near Taupo. She aims to be low-order share milking her parents' 670-cow Taupo farm in four years' time, to build up her percentage to 50 per cent in seven years, and then to acquire the farm in 12 years. "I have a financial plan to ensure this will happen."

Ruth believes winning Dairy Trainee of the Year adds some credibility to her name, which she can take to the bank, and have on her CV when applying for future employment. But the networking and learning experience was the real benefit of entering the competition.

"It's an amazing experience where I learned a lot about myself and how I cope under pressure. It has been a fantastic opportunity to meet and align myself with industry professionals and extend my network.

"The feedback you receive on your knowledge base and your goals is invaluable and will help with your future success."

Hone believes that there remains an opportunity for the agricultural industry to further promote itself to young people.

"The world needs feeding and our industry is growing at an exponential rate. We need passionate young people to fill the jobs." However, she believes that organisations are increasingly working to create awareness among young children of the merits of a career in agriculture, with programmes such as Dairy NZ visiting primary schools with Daisy the cow.

"I think Young Farmers is a fantastic organisation which is helping to void the gap through Agrikids in primary schools and TeenAg in high schools.

"The TeenAg clubs are mentored by Young Farmers members, therefore they can see a clear progression through the organisation and the industry."

And as for the future of agriculture more generally, Hone is confident that untapped potential in the industry paints an optimistic growth story.

"The world's population has been projected to reach nine billion by 2050, in a world where food security is already a major problem.

"Food production globally will need to increase by 70 per cent to fulfill the demand for food.

"This is a huge opportunity for New Zealand as an export country as our economy, people and environment depend on the success of our land-based industries."