No regrets choosing cows over boardroom
Winning the 2025 New Zealand Share Farmers of the Year still hasn't sunk in for Thomas and Fiona Langford.
Those entrants who used their summer holiday to prepare for the 2016 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards could have an advantage, as activity gears up in this year's competitions.
The awards, which oversee the Share Farmer of the Year, Dairy Manager of the Year and Dairy Trainee of the Year competitions, received 452 entries prior to Christmas.
General manager Chris Keeping says information events for entrants and sponsors are being held in some of the awards' 11 regions over the next couple of weeks.
"These events are about providing an opportunity for entrants to meet, learn more about the awards and what they can expect, and have some fun with fellow entrants, organisers and sponsors.
"A big part of the awards is connecting people in the industry and feedback we receive reinforces that meeting other like-minded people is one of the major benefits from entering."
Keeping says the events are also about having fun, with some of the events held at venues like golf clubs and the Tui Beer headquarters.
Full details of the entrant and sponsor events can be found at www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz
She says the events are also useful for entrants as they prepare for judging, which begins in some regions later this month. Judges spend up to two hours on entrant's farms, so it is important that entrants make the most of that time and plan well.
Judges spend two hours on farm with entrants in the Share Farmer competition and one-and-a-half hours with entrants in the Dairy Manager contest. There is no on-farm judging component in the Dairy Trainee competition. Instead entrants participate in a short practical session covering every day farming tasks and an interview.
The first regional winners will be announced in Taranaki on March 4, while the West Coast/Top of the South region is the last to name its winners on April 7. All 33 regional winners will progress to a national final in Wellington on May 14.
The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac, DairyNZ, DeLaval, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra Farm Source, Honda Motorcycles, LIC, Meridian Energy, and Ravensdown, along with industry partner Primary ITO.
A significant breakthrough in understanding facial eczema (FE) in livestock brings New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s devastating impact on farmers, animals, and rural communities.
Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.
OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).
The 2024-25 season apple harvest has “well and truly exceeded expectations”, says Apples and Pears NZ chief executive Karen Morrish.
Through collaborative efforts with exhibitors, visitors, and industry partners, Fieldays says it is reaffirming its commitment to environmental responsibility with new initiatives for 2025.
Fonterra has announced a record forecast opening organic milk price of $12.30/kgMS for the new season.
OPINION: The Free Speech Union is taking this one too far.
OPINION: New national data from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), a leading workplace drug tester, shows methamphetamine (meth) use is…