Strong Voices

A gentle image of her husband and young son has proved to be a winner for South Otago dairy farmer Renae Martin in the 2023 IHC Calf & Rural Scheme photo competition.

Renae captured her husband James Flett and son William as they headed out on their Balclutha farm to get the cows in for milking. “There is just the three of us in the family,” she says.

“This year we were able to finally grow a calf to send to the sale to support the scheme.” Renae says 2023 was their first year doing 50:50 sharemilking and that made it possible to donate a calf. “It’s something we will do each year,” she says.

She does not a have direct connection with intellectual disability. “But I grew up with a mother with multiple sclerosis so when I went to things with her I got to spend time and grow up with people with intellectual and physical disabilities.

“I learnt a lot, spending time and working with those people and now that I am able to support them with a small contribution, it’s a great feeling. I hope it’s able to help in some way to give them the best experiences in life.”

Renae won the IHC Calf category and a $150 Prezzy Card with her entry: ‘Inspecting the last of the daffodils’. She also won the Working on the Farm category with: ‘Teamwork walking to get the cows in for milking’ and another $100 card.

A $100 Prezzy Card went to Jess Kelly for winning the Farm Animals category: ‘Besties for life’ – an image of a boy with his trophy-winning calf.

The IHC Calf & Rural Scheme photo competition celebrates our rural supporters. This year the competition attracted 148 entries, competing in the three new categories.

While Kim Sutton didn’t win a prize, her photograph of her mud-covered daughter, dog and farm bike told a story and made a powerful Strong Voices cover image.

It’s more than a two-hour drive from Kim’s home in the Bombay Hills to her parents’ farm at Whakapirau on the Kaipara Harbour, but it’s a regular trip for her and her two children Ella and Harry.

Kim is a teacher at Karaka School, where the kids also go. But their hearts are firmly attached to the sheep and beef farm where Kim grew up.

Ella and her older brother Harry like to help ‘Poppa’ Bruce Robertson round up the animals, including docking 2000 lambs each year. “They have been docking since they could walk, and before that they sat in the tractor,” Kim says.

Kim takes many photographs of the kids on the farm. This year she entered a photo of 10-year-old Ella and Bruce’s 10-year-old Huntaway Peter on the back of a farm bike.

Bruce is a donor to the IHC Calf & Rural Scheme, and the farm has been in the family for a while. It was first farmed by Bruce’s father, Harry.

Kim says Ella always asks how the dogs are when she calls him, and Poppa Bruce has been talking to her about going shepherding when she is older. “She’s thinking of it, as long as it involves a horse,” Kim says. Peter, meanwhile, is at the other end of his farming career. “He’s an old dog; he’s nearly retired.”

Launched in 1982, the IHC Calf & Rural Scheme has grown to be one of New Zealand’s most successful charitable programmes. Over that time, it has raised more than $41 million for disabled people thanks to the support of people in rural communities. There were 22 IHC calf sales nationwide in 2023–24 and a total of 3245 animals pledged to the scheme. These included 1521 calves, 1053 virtual calves, 140 lambs and sheep, 72 virtual lambs and 459 other animals.

Farmers whose calves make the top 10 percent of the PGG Wrightson recommended sales go into their regions’ draws for $100 vouchers for use at PGG Wrightson’s Rural Supplies stores. Farmers also go into draws for two Mystery Weekends.

To pledge a calf or make a virtual calf donation to the IHC Calf & Rural Scheme and support people with intellectual disabilities in rural communities here.

Caption: James Flett and son William head out on their Balclutha farm to get the cows in for milking.

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