September 8, 2025 • 7 mins
The Zanda McDonald Panel encourages young leaders (21-35 years old) actively engaged in the ag sector to enter the annual transtasman awards.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I always enjoy this panel on the Country, the Xander
(00:03):
McDonald Award panel, and they normally throw up past winners,
although to be fair, one of the panelists today is
a bit long and the tooth to be a past winner,
am I being a bit unkind to you? Doug Avery
that a resilient farmer. Great to have you back on
the show.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Ah, No, great to be back. No, you're right on
the number there mate. You know, like pretty much hidden
under a rock these days, which is a good place
to be. But love to be involved with the Xander Reward.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
And that's because Xander McDonald, who tragically died I think
in about twenty fourteen, fell off a windmill suffered fatal
injuries on his outback farm in Australia. He was a
great made of yours.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Oh yeah. I went to several conferences with him and
we were organizing the conference at Brisbane when this terrible
accident happened only a few weeks before, and he literally
died a week or so before the conference and we'd
all been working together to get it going. So it
was a bit of a show stunner, really, we and
this award was born from that time. There's a small
(01:02):
panel of us kind of going, led by Sean mcmanaway,
David Foot and others, and it's turned in something absolutely special.
As I've often described it, it's an incubator of success.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
It's an Australasian Award. We have an Australian winner. This
year's Australian winner was Jack O'Connor, and we have a
New Zealand winner. And this year's New Zealand winner was
Megan Blom and Megan from Southland dairy farming background. But yeah,
these days based in Marlborough, so this is not only
a Xander MacDonald Award panel, it's a Marlborough panel. And
(01:34):
you and Doug know each other quite well.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Yeah, we sure do. And I think Doug's pretty proud
to have a mulberry and on the list.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Jamie Olbins stopped smiling since she told me she had
entered matt hooded. Myself encouraged her to eat her and
we thought that she might wait a few years and
just sort of get ready. But a typical blob, they
are bred to win and to get into it, and
she was just straight over the edge of then she
rings up to them. I've eaten Megan.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I was hoping that you might claim Southland glory.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I mean, I've got my heart in two places. I
love Southland, but I'm pretty happy up here in Marlborough too.
I've got my muscles up here, so that, yeah, that's
what's keeping me busy.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Let's talk about your background, because you've talked about the
imposter syndrome, and as Doug said, you're only twenty four.
So the age qualification period if you want, is twenty
one to thirty five years of age. By the time
you've been an agriculture till you're thirty five, you've got
a few runs on the board, not so many when
you were twenty four. This was a gutsy effort to
(02:38):
make the call.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Definitely felt bullseyes, like I was quite nervous to enter.
But then my sister she sort of pushed me the
she kind of nudged me over the edge. So she
was saying because Doug was encouraging me, Matt Hurd and
I had a whole lot of other people encouraging me,
like why don't you discive it a go? And I
was like, oh, nah, I don't know if I'm ready.
(03:00):
I don't really know if aquaculture you know fits into
the award. And my sister was like, if all of
these people were encouraging you, you probably match what the
award's looking for, so you should definitely just give it
a go. And I was like, honestly, what have I
got to lose? So I put my application in and
it was a bit scary, and I was like, oh,
wonder how this is going to go. But yeah, no,
(03:23):
really really glad that I just took the punt and
jumped in and gave it a go. And yeah, look
what's happened.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
You're the operations manager at the family business, Mills Bay Muscles,
but you have got a good dairy farming background from
your Southland days.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
You're pretty adamant that I'm a south wind behave grew
up on a dairy farm in Southland and my family
is still down there, my sister, her partner, my brother
and his wife, and my parents and the whole team
down there. Yeah, proud Southly Southland dairy farmer's down there.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Dog. What did you see in Megan to encourage her?
And you are obviously very encouraging for her to enter.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Like I first met the family, I guess, And when
I met the family, I met Megan eventually not trying
to the start Art and hell and are Amazingharans are
amazing human beings. And then I suddenly realized that the
whole family was amazing. And you know when I the
first few times I met Megan, I realized that she
was a way way ahead of her years and maturity
(04:27):
and the things that she was looking for. So she
was always going to be a contender for this level
of the process. And when I look at the other's
famous best was on Country Keller, the Conscious Valley Meets
and Sarah Howe land Afide, She's steep competition. I've always
been pleased to haven't been a judge because I'd find
(04:49):
it so hard to split it. But I knew when
I met Maigan that she was a winner because she's
been bred to win.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I think the year before last, this is how difficult
it is to one. Did we not have Tim Danjin
the Young Farmer of the Year to enter and he
couldn't win. I think he got pipped at the post
by Nancy Craulshaw.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Well, one of the things I'd say, just been to
the conference over on the Gold Coast, and if you
get into the last six or eight or whatever it is.
You're already a winner and it's very, very hard to
pull it to the end. But as I said before,
this is an opportunity to incubate success in agriculture on
(05:29):
both sides of the Tasman and Megan is going to
be an amazing ambassador for the muscle industry but also
agriculture in general, as is the rest of her family,
as are the other finalists. Oh jump on the.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Back of what you're saying there, like, you can't really
lose if you apply. What you're doing is you're sitting
down to really think about what you're doing, what you're
proud of, what you're doing in your industry, and then
you submit your application and even that thought process in
itself is valuable. And then you get shortlisted, and then
(06:03):
there's the shortlist interviews and you really really have to
nail down what are you doing, what are you passionate about,
what are you proud of? And then you present yourself
to the judging panel, and that in itself is an experience.
And then meeting the other shortlisted candidates and then making
it to the finalist. No matter how far you get
in the process, you're winning.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Well Megan, that was my question, why should people enter
You've answered that already the networking opportunities alone. Just before
I let you go dug Overy tomorrow Wednesday, I think
you're jumping on a plane to head to the University
of Oregon for some speaking gigs. I thought you said
you were hiding under a stone and retired in Marlborough.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Well I pretty much was, but I made the mistake
of doing a pre the zoom call to them back
in twenty twenty one, and the head of agronomy at
the university decided that I'd us next keynote speaker when
you put on a big pasture conference. So that's what
I am, and I'm taking a long way to get
to Oregon. I'm starting off in Phoenix.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Phoenix, Arizona. You need to go to the Big Apple
while you're there and you'll no doubt finish up and
knock them dead at the University of Oregon. If you
want to enter the Xander McDonald Awards for twenty twenty six,
you need to go to the website Xander McDonald Award
or one word McDonald without an a dot com. You
need to be between twenty one to thirty five years
of age a Megan Blomb. Always good to catch up
(07:26):
with you. I still call you a Southlander and Doug,
you can take the boy out of Marlborough, but you'll
never take the Marlborough out.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Of a boy.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I'm not shifted the South from any time soon day.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Yeah, but wait for you down there. See you later,
see you Megan, Yes,
I always enjoy this panel on the Country, the Xander
(00:03):
McDonald Award panel, and they normally throw up past winners,
although to be fair, one of the panelists today is
a bit long and the tooth to be a past winner,
am I being a bit unkind to you? Doug Avery
that a resilient farmer. Great to have you back on
the show.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Ah, No, great to be back. No, you're right on
the number there mate. You know, like pretty much hidden
under a rock these days, which is a good place
to be. But love to be involved with the Xander Reward.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
And that's because Xander McDonald, who tragically died I think
in about twenty fourteen, fell off a windmill suffered fatal
injuries on his outback farm in Australia. He was a
great made of yours.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Oh yeah. I went to several conferences with him and
we were organizing the conference at Brisbane when this terrible
accident happened only a few weeks before, and he literally
died a week or so before the conference and we'd
all been working together to get it going. So it
was a bit of a show stunner, really, we and
this award was born from that time. There's a small
(01:02):
panel of us kind of going, led by Sean mcmanaway,
David Foot and others, and it's turned in something absolutely special.
As I've often described it, it's an incubator of success.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
It's an Australasian Award. We have an Australian winner. This
year's Australian winner was Jack O'Connor, and we have a
New Zealand winner. And this year's New Zealand winner was
Megan Blom and Megan from Southland dairy farming background. But yeah,
these days based in Marlborough, so this is not only
a Xander MacDonald Award panel, it's a Marlborough panel. And
(01:34):
you and Doug know each other quite well.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Yeah, we sure do. And I think Doug's pretty proud
to have a mulberry and on the list.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Jamie Olbins stopped smiling since she told me she had
entered matt hooded. Myself encouraged her to eat her and
we thought that she might wait a few years and
just sort of get ready. But a typical blob, they
are bred to win and to get into it, and
she was just straight over the edge of then she
rings up to them. I've eaten Megan.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I was hoping that you might claim Southland glory.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I mean, I've got my heart in two places. I
love Southland, but I'm pretty happy up here in Marlborough too.
I've got my muscles up here, so that, yeah, that's
what's keeping me busy.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Let's talk about your background, because you've talked about the
imposter syndrome, and as Doug said, you're only twenty four.
So the age qualification period if you want, is twenty
one to thirty five years of age. By the time
you've been an agriculture till you're thirty five, you've got
a few runs on the board, not so many when
you were twenty four. This was a gutsy effort to
(02:38):
make the call.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Definitely felt bullseyes, like I was quite nervous to enter.
But then my sister she sort of pushed me the
she kind of nudged me over the edge. So she
was saying because Doug was encouraging me, Matt Hurd and
I had a whole lot of other people encouraging me,
like why don't you discive it a go? And I
was like, oh, nah, I don't know if I'm ready.
(03:00):
I don't really know if aquaculture you know fits into
the award. And my sister was like, if all of
these people were encouraging you, you probably match what the
award's looking for, so you should definitely just give it
a go. And I was like, honestly, what have I
got to lose? So I put my application in and
it was a bit scary, and I was like, oh,
wonder how this is going to go. But yeah, no,
(03:23):
really really glad that I just took the punt and
jumped in and gave it a go. And yeah, look
what's happened.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
You're the operations manager at the family business, Mills Bay Muscles,
but you have got a good dairy farming background from
your Southland days.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
You're pretty adamant that I'm a south wind behave grew
up on a dairy farm in Southland and my family
is still down there, my sister, her partner, my brother
and his wife, and my parents and the whole team
down there. Yeah, proud Southly Southland dairy farmer's down there.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Dog. What did you see in Megan to encourage her?
And you are obviously very encouraging for her to enter.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Like I first met the family, I guess, And when
I met the family, I met Megan eventually not trying
to the start Art and hell and are Amazingharans are
amazing human beings. And then I suddenly realized that the
whole family was amazing. And you know when I the
first few times I met Megan, I realized that she
was a way way ahead of her years and maturity
(04:27):
and the things that she was looking for. So she
was always going to be a contender for this level
of the process. And when I look at the other's
famous best was on Country Keller, the Conscious Valley Meets
and Sarah Howe land Afide, She's steep competition. I've always
been pleased to haven't been a judge because I'd find
(04:49):
it so hard to split it. But I knew when
I met Maigan that she was a winner because she's
been bred to win.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I think the year before last, this is how difficult
it is to one. Did we not have Tim Danjin
the Young Farmer of the Year to enter and he
couldn't win. I think he got pipped at the post
by Nancy Craulshaw.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Well, one of the things I'd say, just been to
the conference over on the Gold Coast, and if you
get into the last six or eight or whatever it is.
You're already a winner and it's very, very hard to
pull it to the end. But as I said before,
this is an opportunity to incubate success in agriculture on
(05:29):
both sides of the Tasman and Megan is going to
be an amazing ambassador for the muscle industry but also
agriculture in general, as is the rest of her family,
as are the other finalists. Oh jump on the.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Back of what you're saying there, like, you can't really
lose if you apply. What you're doing is you're sitting
down to really think about what you're doing, what you're
proud of, what you're doing in your industry, and then
you submit your application and even that thought process in
itself is valuable. And then you get shortlisted, and then
(06:03):
there's the shortlist interviews and you really really have to
nail down what are you doing, what are you passionate about,
what are you proud of? And then you present yourself
to the judging panel, and that in itself is an experience.
And then meeting the other shortlisted candidates and then making
it to the finalist. No matter how far you get
in the process, you're winning.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Well Megan, that was my question, why should people enter
You've answered that already the networking opportunities alone. Just before
I let you go dug Overy tomorrow Wednesday, I think
you're jumping on a plane to head to the University
of Oregon for some speaking gigs. I thought you said
you were hiding under a stone and retired in Marlborough.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Well I pretty much was, but I made the mistake
of doing a pre the zoom call to them back
in twenty twenty one, and the head of agronomy at
the university decided that I'd us next keynote speaker when
you put on a big pasture conference. So that's what
I am, and I'm taking a long way to get
to Oregon. I'm starting off in Phoenix.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Phoenix, Arizona. You need to go to the Big Apple
while you're there and you'll no doubt finish up and
knock them dead at the University of Oregon. If you
want to enter the Xander McDonald Awards for twenty twenty six,
you need to go to the website Xander McDonald Award
or one word McDonald without an a dot com. You
need to be between twenty one to thirty five years
of age a Megan Blomb. Always good to catch up
(07:26):
with you. I still call you a Southlander and Doug,
you can take the boy out of Marlborough, but you'll
never take the Marlborough out.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Of a boy.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I'm not shifted the South from any time soon day.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Yeah, but wait for you down there. See you later,
see you Megan, Yes,
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