In 2021, 23-year-old Dayna Rowe was named the Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year and won $6000 in prizes and three merit awards.

One year later, Dayna is now managing for Grant and Ngaire Rowe on their 289.67ha Pongakawa farm, milking 1000 cows and paving the way for many women in dairy.

Growing up on the family farm in Pongakawa, Dayna spent a lot of time learning about farming and animals.

She had originally begun study towards a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Theatre Studies when she realised she'd rather be stomping through paddocks than treading the boards.

'I grew up on a dairy farm and it was always just something you were not offered to do if you were female or kind of ‘smart' at high school, so in the end I went down to Wellington to study.

'During the summer I got a little job on the farm just spraying weeds before I was supposed to go back to university and during that time a guy quit his job and a full time position came up on the farm.

'I had enjoyed my time on the farm so much all summer that I decided to take it and not go back to university.

'I am now managing the farm that I was a dairy trainee on so that was a pretty big step in the right direction for me and I have had staff come on board that wanted to work for me because of what they had seen of me from the Dairy Awards which has been wicked.”

From student to award winning farmer

Dayna says the exposure from the awards has really helped her in her career.

'I have done quite a bit of advertising for the farming industry and spoken on the news which has been a way to get my face out there and be recognised for something positive.

'All of a sudden you know a bunch of contract milkers from around the country and reps suddenly want to work with you and be on board with you.

'I felt like a mini celebrity after the awards. So many people have been there to help me which has been so beneficial with it being my first year managing on such a big farm, and to have so many people wanting to work with me and make my job a little bit easier has been wicked.”

In 2021, Dayna spent the year focusing on herself and the awards, however with 2022 now in full swing, Dayna has focused her energy onto her career and succeeding in her new role.

'I didn't really know what this year was going to be like. I didn't have any super clear goals other than knuckling down and getting this job done and doing it well.

'Production is going well, everything on the farm is going well and the boss is happy,” she says.

A woman in dairy

As a woman in the industry, Dayna has experienced hardships, but wants to be a part of a change that sees farming as a woman a more viable option.

'Being a female in the dairy industry is hard. I really encourage it, but it is hard. I think what I see of females in the industry is that it's not so easy for us so you find that a lot of females are a bit more committed, a bit more switched on.

'I think it showed in the dairy awards as there were a lot more females in our national final. I believe females that are doing farming unfortunately have to prove themselves a lot more.

'There's definitely a lot of sexism and things that need to change still,” Dayna says.

'A lot of contractors ask for your husband or where the manager is if they see a woman on the farm, and so there is definitely a lot of improvements to be made.”

A viable lifestyle

Dayna's next goal is to try to figure out how she can use technology, new ideas and new systems to make life easier.

'We're getting Halter on our farm in the next few weeks, which is technology that assists management quite a bit with cows and animal health and things like that which is exciting.

'I'm 23 and I don't have a partner who runs a farm, so I have started thinking about things like ‘how can I have a baby and run a farm? How can I be a woman and run a farm?'”

'My goal for the next few years whilst I'm young is to try and figure out how I can make farming a more sustainable layout for a woman who still wants to live a normal lifestyle, whether that is through technology or new systems.

'I'm totally delving into new territory here. People have this shocked look on their face if I say ‘well what if I want to have a baby?'”

'It's definitely not spoken about and it's definitely something that I'm trying to encourage people to think about a bit more, to start the conversation.”