2023 PRESIDENT, MICHELLE WEBSTER

Michelle has worn many different work hats over the years in the agriculture industry. She started as a very young Station Cook at Mount White for Ray Marshall , which began a lifestyle hard to beat. A shearing season in Western Australia made her appreciate how unique New Zealand is. She then spent a few years as a senior supervisor at Santa Rosa for Jens Christianson .

“I was then drawn back to the sheds as wellknown Mike Richards needed a rousie, and I needed to stay in one place for my daughter's schooling.

“Sideline jobs always fill the seasonal gaps, including farm and potato work, with the late Godfrey Judd and his brother Warwick , provided interim income for years. The lack of casual staff in the farming sector nowadays has offered plenty of unusual opportunities. I remember days splitting garlic cloves by hand for planting - we ponged for weeks!!

“When Mike retired Shaun Adams and I continued with his already established lifestyle run working under the company ‘Adams Brothers Shearing Ltd’, with the addition of crutching/shearing trailers, we offer the full gambit mobile or shed all across Canterbury and beyond. The work variety is never boring and now even includes Alpacas and Llamas,” commented Michelle.

“Market stalls in recent times, selling tie dye and craft with Cheyenne are fun. Cooking for John Bruce's large Blade Gang over winter becomes an annual adventurous travelling holiday. Finally, starting a firewood business based locally with Shaun Adams last year, is ramping up production for this chilly season, “Michelle concluded.