Spread across the lush meadows of New Zealand, where the air is crisp, the water is pure and the land is unspoiled, Pamu Farms is producing some of the purest milk that the country has to offer.
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And amongst that landscape, where innovation and sustainable farming flourishes, is a young man who stands out for his passion, determination and leadership.
Jack Raharuhi, 27, has received the 2020 Zanda McDonald Award, recognised for the amazing things he is doing to develop, coach and mentor his team, and his "natural leadership style that is inspiring and compassionate".
As the Buller Dairy Group operations manager for Pamu Farms, Mr Raharuhi is responsible for five large dairy farms comprising 4500 cows and 32 full time staff, one dairy support unit and a machinery contracting business that services the complex's agricultural work.
It's in this role that he pursues his passion for developing, coaching and mentoring the next generation of leaders.
"I am extremely passionate about the dairy industry and the people working in it," he said.
"To ensure there is a clear pathway for the motivated, personal development plans are set with every staff member - where they are wanting to be in two, three, five years' time, what sort of career and tertiary path they need to follow to achieve that, and assisting in the decision-making paving the way for them."
This development of the next generation comes from the philosophy of 'attract, develop, retain'.
"Attract, develop, retain needs to be an important philosophy for any business - simply spending the quality time on the people in your business and developing their weaknesses stimulates the staff job satisfaction," Mr Raharuhi said.
"In doing so, you hold onto the good-quality people, spreading word of mouth of success breeding success, and attracting people into your business."
As if he wasn't busy enough in this management role, Mr Raharuhi is also involved in several other projects outside of Pamu.
"When you look across the multiple things I am involved with, they do represent my career values - attract, develop, retain," he said.
"For example, the Buller High School Gateway Program attracts people into the industry involving and offering work experience, the West Coast 2IC Development Program gives an environment that promotes progression in the industry and individual time to think out the future opportunities in the industry.
"The Primary ITO involvement lets me have input on how the tertiary education is shaped and delivered to the whole industry.
"'Passion for Progression' is what I am about, and coaching, mentoring and upskilling the people in our industry will take our industry to the next level."
Taking New Zealand's dairy industry to the next level is founded on his love for the industry.
"I love the sheer determination and the passion the farmers have to get the job done and the mana that goes into growing and looking after quality animals and pastures," Mr Raharuhi said.
"I also love seeing the way the dairy industry looks out for each other through the good and the not so good times.
"For me personally, I love turning lush pastures into high quality milk and I love working with the teams at the frontline to enhance the understanding of the product produced on farm."
Mr Raharuhi said being crowned as the 2020 Zanda McDonald Award winner was "truly humbling".
"I am proud of myself and the journey I have had through life to be where I am now, which can be followed on my Facebook page 'Jack's Leadership Journey'.
"My leadership journey and the story that sits behind it can inspire a lot of people and not just in agriculture, but on a much larger scale and this opportunity will provide that.
"With ambitions of being a general manager, or maybe even a CEO, one day, doing what I am currently doing in my Pamu role on a much larger scale is where I want to get to."
And when Mr Raharuhi isn't helping others achieve their goals, while also striving towards his own, he is a proud West Coaster, where he lives with his wife Charlotte and three children, and gets out surfing when he can.
Mr Raharuhi thanked the award sponsors but also said his wife Charlotte deserved special recognition.
"She is the cog in the wheel nobody sees and helps keep me focused, and thank you to my dad Lani and mum Wendy for all the support."
