Toko couple take prizes at national competition | Taranaki News | Local News in Taranaki

LOCAL legends, Greg and Hannah Topless of Toko were pleased and delighted to be awarded a placing in the 2010 New Zealand Dairy Industry Sharemilker of the Year awards, held in Rotorua on the weekend.
Greg and Hannah placed third, winning $17,000 in cash and prizes. They have been 50% sharemilking 280 cows on a 96ha farm at Toko, and will move onto their first farm next month.
“Greg and Hannah had a huge passion for their stock and have lifted their herd’s reproductive performance, genetic gain and somatic cell count levels and are now getting top production on quite a challenging farm, commented sharemilker head judge, Johanna Deutz Ebeling.
And though they may have missed out on first place in the sharemilker of the year, they did manage to win not one, but two other merit awards: the Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award, and the LIC Recording and Productivity Award.
Thirty-six finalists representing 12 regions across the country competed in the final, and represented the best from more than 500 entries received in the three 2010 awards competitions.
The winners of the 2010 New Zealand Sharemilker of the Year were Stefan and Annalize du Plessis of Dipton. Second place went to Jeremy and Rebecca Duckmanton of Ashburton.
National sponsors Westpac, Honda, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown and RD1, along with industry partner Agriculture ITO, support the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards.