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Pinoy Abroad

Pinoy couple making name in NZ dairy industry


A Filipino couple is reaping accolades in New Zealand for their hard work in the dairy industry.

A report on New Zealand Herald said Carlos delos Santos and wife Bernice were named runners-up for Share Farmer of the Year and won the Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene merit award at New Zealand's national Dairy Industry Awards.

The Delos Santos couple Carlos and Bernice accepting their awards. New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards

Their latest achievements followed their regional achievements of winning the 2017 Central Plateau Sharemilker of the Year Award, the region's dairy hygiene award for the last two years, and other awards for human resources, pasture and business performance.

Carlos came to New Zealand to look for greener pastures over a decade ago, while his wife left her nursing job in the Philippines in 2007 to join him.

The couple married in 2008 and Carlos progressed from being a farm assistant to herd manager for 1000 cows, to becoming an assistant manager on a 750-cow farm, then sharemilking a 300-cow herd on 140-hectare farm with his wife today.

In an interview with Sunlive, Carlos recounted the sacrifices they made to learn farming and how their support for each other made it possible for them to expand their farm enough to hire a full-time staff member.

He encouraged immigrants and young New Zealanders to take up dairying as a career and work hard to progress quickly through the ranks as they have.

Federated Farmers Dairy Chairman Andrew Hoggard said the couple exemplified why immigrants are a boon for New Zealand especially given its current anti-immigrant climate.

While more than a third of Kiwis favored immigration, citizens in the poll featured by Radio New Zealand believe their government was ill-prepared to accommodate the growing number of immigrants, according to Radio New Zealand.

Kiwi businesses, meanwhile, were alarmed by a proposal by the National party that would send home essential skills visa holders earning up to $49,000 after three years for a "stand-down period," according to an article on Stuff.

According to the National Ethnic Population Projection, released on May 18, by New Zealand, 40,350 persons identify with having a Filipino ethnicity. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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