Friday, 03 May 2019 12:36

Award recognises strong contribution — DairyNZ

Written by 
2019 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year Trish Rankin. 2019 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year Trish Rankin.

DairyNZ says 2019 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year Trish Rankin’s award recognises the multiple roles she plays in the sector and community.

DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle says it is very lucky to have Rankin “involved in a number of key initiatives with us that are making a difference”.

Rankin is a DairyNZ Dairy Environment Leader (DEL) – a group of farmers who work to achieve better outcomes for the environment and farming. They make things happen in many areas such as water quality and assist other farmers to improve their environmental performance. They are active in their communities at grass-roots level in different ways, such as on boards and local committees. Rankin is the chair of the Taranaki DEL group.

Among a wide range of roles, Rankin is a contractor to DairyNZ as a Dairy Women’s Network module developer, a NAIT technical user advisor, and is involved in the Dairy Industry Awards. 

In 2018 she was elected onto the national executive for the NZ Dairy Awards and last year was selected as a DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassador as part of the Dairy Action for Climate Change. DairyNZ Climate Change Ambassadors are a group of 15 farmers throughout the country who work with farmers to build their understanding of climate change, and they also provide a farmer voice. 

“Mrs Rankin is always involved in things that are going to benefit the dairy sector, the environment and the community,” Mackle says. “She is also keenly interested in contributing to the public perception of dairying.”

As well as being a part-time teacher, Rankin and her husband Glen sharemilk 450 cows in South Taranaki for Māori Corporation Parininihi ki Waitotara. They won the Northland Share farmer of the Year award in 2016. The couple have a strong focus on profitable production on their farm.

Rankin was announced the recipient of the prestigious dairy award at the Allflex Dairy Women's Network's conference in Chirstchurch this week.

DairyNZ also congratulated the other finalists – Fonterra Shareholders Councillors Julie Pirie and Emma Hammond, and former Shareholders Councillor Kylie Leonard.

More like this

Farmers' call

OPINION: Fonterra's $4.22 billion consumer business sale to Lactalis is ruffling a few feathers outside the dairy industry.

Wasted energy

OPINION: Finance Minister Nicola Willis could have saved her staff and MBIE time and effort over ‘buttergate’ recently by not playing politics with butter prices in the first place.

Featured

Dr Mike Joy says sorry, escapes censure

Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.

People-first philosophy pays off

The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.

Farmer anger over Joy's social media post

A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.

From Nelson to Dairy Research: Amy Toughey’s Journey

Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.

National

Machinery & Products

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Buttery prize

OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having…

Gene Bill rumours

OPINION: The Gene Technology Bill has divided the farming community with strong arguments on both the pros and cons of…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter