Family, friends and farming colleagues are mourning the death of former long-serving Federated Farmers sharemilkers chair Jeff Bolstad.
The Morrinsville farmer, the inaugural winner of the NZ Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) Lifetime Contribution Award in 2021, died in a tragic accident in his cowshed on 27 July, age 69.
Bolstad was instrumental in developing the awards and, when he won the Lifetime Contribution Award, NZDIA Trust chair Natasha Tere described him as the “bonding strength” behind the organisation.
“Jeff has a pure love and passion for aspiring dairy farmers and has been a guiding light, a father figure and confidante to many while on their awards journey,” she said.
Andrew Hoggard, Federated Farmers president in 2021, said it was great to see such a humble bloke, who had given his time with no thought of getting anything in return, receive national recognition.
“Jeff has been an institution within the Federated Farmers sharemilker section over many years,” Hoggard said at the time.
“He’s contributed hugely to not only the Dairy Awards, but to the Feds sharemilking agreements, and all the issues dealt with by our dairy industry group and the Waikato province.”
Long-time friend and fellow Waikato farmer Brian Steele, who is currently the Federated Farmers Waikato sharemilker farm owners chair, described Bolstad as a caring family man.
“He did a lot for other people – an absolute salt of the earth,” Steele said.
“Jeff got on with the job, whatever was needed. Sometimes it was helping sort out a dispute; he would approach it with common sense and looking for what was fair.
“He had charisma and leadership.”
Dad to four daughters and ‘Oompa’ of 13 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, Bolstad was active with primary school parent-teacher associations, and then the Elstow and Te Aroha College boards of trustees.
“They say behind every good man there’s a super-good woman and that’s certainly true of Jeff’s wife Annette,” Steele said.
“Jeff was a fella who flew under the radar – a good bugger, a heart and soul of the community.”
Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Federated Farmers news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.
