A CROP of outstanding primary producers have made the final round of this year’s NSW Farmer of The Year Award.
Representing the livestock, aquaculture, honey and egg industries, this year’s finalists include: Casey Cooper, Nick Arena, Jock Nivison and Peter Matuszny.
Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair and NSW Farmers president Derek Schoen agreed these farmers have proved their ability to explore new measures of farming and were great ambassadors for the agricultural industry.
“They are driving innovation in effective agriculture practices, strengthening biosecurity and using new research and technology to improve the profitability of their farming businesses,” Mr Schoen said.
Casey Cooper, Tingha via Inverell
A well known apiarist managing productive honey bees at “Coopers Bees”, Northern Tablelands farmer Casey Cooper has made the cut.
Based at Tingha near Inverell, his services include queen bee rearing and artificial insemination services. He also sells beewax and offers by-products such as pollination services.
Nick Arena, Bobs Farm
A fish farmer, Mr Arena operates 17 hectares at Bobs Farm in the Port Stephens area. There he grows tropical Barramundi species alongside hydronic herbs including basil and parsley with leafy greens such as bok choy and spinach.
Housing a restaurant “Cook-a-Barra” on-site at his Bobs Farm property, he aims to highlight the importance of fresh local produce.
Jock Nivison, Walcha
Mr Nivison is the owner and operator of “Yalgoo” in Walcha where he operates a 2941ha property running beef cattle and sheep.
He also runs commercial fine wool merino, seedstock merino, seedstock beef and commercial beef operations. Further, he manages a seedstock merino enterprise in Tasmania and the believes in the opportunity for dual purpose flocks.
Peter Matuszny, Taree
Taree’s Mr Matunszny owns and operates seven egg farms under the banner of Valley Free Range Eggs in the Manning Valley. He supplies eggs to more than 700 supermarkets and local independent stores.
He also breeds and finishes 400 beef cattle.
“The state’s $12 billion primary industries are in good hands, reflected by the high caliber of finalists we have in this years competition,” said Mr Blair.
The winner of the 2016 Farmer of the Year will receive $10,000 and finalists will each receive $2,000. The winner will be announced later this year.
The award is supported by NSW Farmers, NSW Department of Primary Industries, The Land and SafeWork NSW.
