Mr O’Brien said Mr Massa’s exemplary efforts in managing the Trust’s 700-cow Cooriemungle farm and its workforce had earnt him an equity interest in the farm and its cows.

Mr O’Brien praised Mr Massa’s ability to share his work values with the team he managed and the mutual support and respect he had instigated.

Mr Massa manages a team of six full-time and five part-time workers, which includes contractors, at the Cooriemungle farm. 

Most of the workers live on several houses on the farm.

Mr O’Brien said Mr Massa was very personalised in his approach to managing other team members and had helped to make the Cooriemungle farm a success.

He said Mr Massa had led the team towards taking responsibility for the farm’s outcomes.

“Everyone treats it like their own,” Mr O’Brien said.

He said the Cooriemungle farm had enjoyed very little staff turnover under Massa’s management.

Mr Massa, 32, was a farmer of dual purpose cattle, raised for both milk and beef, and a veterinarian in Columbia before he came to Australia.

He said Columbia was troubled by insurgents in the countryside and he came to Australia in search of a more secure future for his family.

He said he had striven to create a culture at the Cooriemungle farm that considered not only the work that team members did, but also the lifestyle they wished to live.

Mr Massa said the challenges on the Cooriemungle farm included cold, wet and windy conditions during winter that tested production goals.

Mr Massa said he sought to not only feed the cows during the winter but also provide good grass production in spring and silage for summer feed.

He said another focus was on maintaining good cow reproduction rates by using high fertility bulls and giving good individual attention to cows with the conception process.