Special Awards 2024
Bell Booth Achiever Award
For persons who have made some notable achievement in the Ayrshire Breed.
Michael Terpstra
Since becoming a member of Ayrshire New Zealand in 2018, the recipient of the Bell Booth Achiever Award has set extremely high standards and expectations for himself and has quickly proven that these goals are attainable with dedication and hard work. Having progressed up the farming ladder to 50/50 sharemilking he has proven that high indexes arent necessarily the most important factors, but feeding and breeding high producing dairy cows no matter the breed is paramount.
Upon choosing the Ayrshire breed as one of his breeds of choice, he set about obtaining quality cattle of all ages from established herds and clearing sales. This has enabled him to start off with a great base and enabled him to develop his herd into one of the top production herds in the country.
Clearly passionate about his cows and craft he has immersed himself in a lot of of the services that Ayrshire New Zeaalnd offers including TOP, the National On Farm Challenge and Young Breeders Seminar for example.
In recent years he has also regularly been exhibiting and showcasing his cattle at some of the best shows in the country with great success so far. He knows what he likes and is not afraid to share his opinions, and whether people agree or disagree this is a good trait to possess. He can back it up too, but not without an amazing back up support team with his wife & parents leading the way.
The Ayrshire breed is fortunate to have a young breeder with the passion and drive to prove that the Ayrshire cow can compete and thrive against other breeds, and it is a pleasure to present the Bell Booth Achievers Award to Michael Terpstra.
Distinguished Member – Ward
For members who promote Ayrshires locally by always portraying a positive attitude for the breed, and who make the time and effort for the breed, or to assist other Ayrshire members and/or Ayrshire enthusiasts throughout the region to achieve their goals.
Jeanette Keen
Jeanette Keen has always had an affinity with dairy cattle and although not having grown up on a farm, she was able to partake in school calf clubs by borrowing calves from a local farmer in the area where she lived. As an adult, she lived and worked in town but visited her friend Sue Gibberd whenever time allowed helping with the preparation and showing of Sue’s cattle and later the Goldwyn young stock. She joined the Thames Valley Ayrshire Club in the late 90’s always helping when she could and participating at Club Shows and A&P Shows, went along on various club trips and attended several Conferences with Sue enjoying the hospitality and friendships of other Ayrshire Breeders. Along the way Jeanette purchased 2 heifers from Kiteroa and 1 from the Larnoch Heifer dispersal, showing some of the progeny with success on her own account. Recently descendants of the Larnoch heifer were also shown with much success by the Inglecorner Stud which was a real thrill for her.
On Retiring from the workforce Jeanette was able to attend the Thames Valley Club Meetings and took on the role as Publicity Officer. She started the Facebook group for our club and began to photograph the herds we visited for our club meetings, winning both 1st and 2nd in last year’s Scenic Photo Competition, which shows her talent. Jeanette was nominated treasurer as well at our AGM last year and is part of the trio that has organised this year’s conference.
The Thames Valley Ayrshire Club would like to nominate Mrs Jeanette Keen for the Ward 2 Distinguished Members Award
Rob McIntosh Memorial Trophy
To encourage an exhibitor to go further and/or continue showing Animals at local calf club days and A& P Shows.
Charlotte Stachurski
Charlotte Stachurski is a vocal advocate for the Ayrshire breed and for the past few years, she has encouraged her parents and siblings to assist her with exhibiting ‘Balmaine’ cattle, at local shows and more recently, further afield.
Charlotte is in her second year of an agricultural science degree at Massey University, which she juggles with working on a dairy farm to support her studies financially. She also travels home as often as possible, to remain actively involved with the herd, including the breeding programme. Catalogues relating to sales as well as AB are read and discussed extensively, in pursuit of breeding top show cows, with Charlotte having a strong influence on decision-making.
Last year Charlotte was Ayrshire NZ’s representative at the World Ayrshire Federation Youth Tour in Australia, and she has written an enlightening account of her experience, in the current Bulletin. At 18, Charlotte was the youngest delegate and said she learned a lot. Each delegate was assigned to assist an exhibitor at the Adelaide Show, and Charlotte really enjoyed the hands-on involvement with the big show teams.
Locally, Charlotte has been instrumental in selecting cows in the herd for showing, then training them to lead correctly and be relaxed about being tied up all day and night. Clipping cattle was a huge learning curve which Charlotte tackled with confidence, along with tutorials on Youtube and some advice from Mum Robyn, who has showing experience from her younger (single) days. Three years ago, Charlotte attended a Friesian Youth Camp in Stratford and gained lots of helpful advice on showing which inspired her to get the whole family on board.
Last November, ‘Balmaine’ exhibited cows at Stratford and Charlotte ensured the team (cows and handlers) were organised, tidy and relaxed. In January this year, the family traveled to Levin to exhibit out of Taranaki for the first time and enjoyed nominal success.
Charlotte has also helped established breeders at other shows, including Winton in the South Island and Dairy Event. She is not afraid to ask questions and respects a different insight into showing methods provided by the more experienced exhibitors. She is very interested in genetics and can hold her own in discussions relating to different sires.
Looking ahead, Charlotte is already planning a strategy to participate in as many shows as possible in the 2024/2025 season. She is also keen to get her younger siblings involved in the International Youth Challenge so they benefit from the knowledge and experience she has enjoyed.
Charlotte is a determined and capable young woman who is proving to be a delightful ambassador for the Ayrshire breed, and the Taranaki Ayrshire Club wishes to nominate her for the Robert McIntosh Memorial trophy for 2024.
Hilary Jane
(On behalf of the Taranaki Ayrshire Club)
Honorary Life Membership
Sue Gibberd
The Thames Valley Ayrshire Breeders Club would like to nominate Sue Gibberd for an Honorary Life Membership. Sue along with her husband David became members of the New Zealand Ayrshire Association in 1974 with the prefix ‘Guildford Ayrshires’, she has been a senior judge for at least 25 years until her retirement a few years ago officiating at numerous shows over the years. Sue has been our club secretary since 1989 until the present day, with only a couple of years gap in the late nineties.
Keeping comprehensive records of all club meetings and maintaining all historic records of the Thames Valley Club. She has also been secretary of the organizing committee for the Annual Meetings of the Ayrshire Association being a key component in the successful staging of all of them. She has also judged numerous club competitions and with driver David has covered most if not all of the North Island clubs. Sue and David dispersed their herd in 2006 but have continued to milk a handful of Ayrshire cows and reared calves ever since. She has continued to show the resulting calves and others leased or purchased at 4 days old at local A & P events until two years ago. Sue has been an Ayrshire delegate to the Te Kauwhata A & P association since 1990 and has been instrumental in maintaining the dairy section of this show. An example of this was last year when she organized the working bee to prepare the grounds the day before and provided the stewards and recorders for all three breeds.
Sue has always exhibited a positive and enthusiastic manner towards Ayrshires and the people that have anything to do with them and we believe she would be a worthy recipient of this award.