Jim's grin will be missed

TERRY TACON - Taranaki Thursday, 10 May 2007
Jim Thwaites, who died on Sunday, was one of those people for whom the word gentleman was coined.
Born James Thompson Thwaites but always known as Jim, he was a legendary figure in Taranaki dairying, but if you told him something like that he would always deflect the compliment by saying something like "I've just been lucky".
On the occasion he was awarded the International Person of the Year title at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, the first New Zealander to be so honoured, he was at pains to point out how much the award belonged to his beloved wife Betty as well, for all the support she had provided him in his life in dairying.
Jim was the son of a dairy farmer, his father being given his first bull when he returned from World War I by the Kirton Brothers, who owned the Glanton Jersey Stud at Kohuratahi. When Jim returned from World War II the Kirtons extended the same gesture to him when he took up a rehabilitation block at Mokoia.
When the Kirtons retired Jim bought their cows and they presented him with the stud's name, Glanton, which was the name of the village in Northumberland, England, from where the Kirtons originated. Jim immortalised the stud's name when he bred Glanton Red Dante in 1973, the bull going on to become the New Zealand Jersey Breeders Association Sire of the Century.
Glanton Red Dante was the son of Linmore Red Royal and Glanton Jovial Deanna and was identified at birth as a sire of enormous potential, Linmore Red Royal having been sired by the outstanding Tarnhowe Red Beacon Merit +34. He was chosen for the Dairy Board's selected sires scheme, a scheme Jim Thwaites was instrumental in developing, and the rest is history, with Glanton Red Dante going on to have a major influence on pedigree and commercial Jersey breeding worldwide.
It is estimated that 90% of the Jerseys sired by artificial breeding have a link with Glanton Red Dante, many of his sons and daughters having show successes and breeding reputations nationally and internationally.
But it was not just for Glanton Red Dante that Jim Thwaites was known. He was a key figure in the development of the artificial breeding system in New Zealand, being a founder member of the first Taranaki artificial breeding committee. He went on to become a director of the New Zealand Herd Improvement Council and the Livestock Improvement Council. He was also a director of Kiwi Dairies.
The citation for his award at the World Dairy Expo sums up some of Jim's qualities and achievements: "He is a man of diplomatic skill and foresight. He led a study group of New Zealand farmers to the United States when the New Zealand dairy industry tackled the issue of milk quality and the value of somatic cell counting.
"In addition, his international travels have helped bring the New Zealand grass system to the United States and elsewhere. The feed management process has been internationally recognised as one of the world's best systems and is widely copied by producers.
"Whether hosting friends met through his dairy industry travels or gleaning important information, Mr Thwaites is considered instrumental in the current success of the New Zealand dairy industry. His frienship, leadership and search for long-term benefits have greatly enhanced international ties and profitability for his countrymen."
Jim was also honoured in New Zealand for his services to dairying with an MBE in 1992.
It was not just his tremendous knowledge of things dairying that people admired about Jim Thwaites. He had a ready smile and a great sense of humour and one of this writer's abiding memories will be the sight of him on the back of grandson Mark Duffy's four-wheel farm bike, charging up a track on the Duffys' Ararata farm at a field day to mark the family winning the Taranaki Meat and Fibre Farmer of the Year title in 2003. Jim, pushing 80 at the time, had a huge grin on his face the whole wild ride.
He was a great worker for a variety of organisations, particularly the Egmont A&P Association, of which he was patron and a life member at the time of his death. It was typical of him that despite not being required to be there, last Thursday night he had attended an association committee meeting. Jim is survived by his wife Betty and children Fiona, John, Stewart, Robin and Philip. A service to celebrate his life will be held in the Manaia Town Hall tomorrow, starting at 12.30pm.