Outlook for dairy strong – ag trade envoy
New Zealand’s special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr believes the outlook for the dairy sector remains strong.
Four women from throughout New Zealand have been selected as Dairy Women's Network 2015 Dairy Woman of the Year finalists.
They are:
· PGG Wrightson animal nutritionist Andrea Murphy of Alexandra
· Dairy director Wilma van Leeuwen of Waimate
· Southland Demonstration Farm director Elaine Cook of Waikato; and
· Federated Farmers board member and provincial president Katie Milne of Kumara, West Coast
Run by the Dairy Women's Network and sponsored by Fonterra, the Dairy Woman of the Year Award includes a 12-month scholarship to the Breakthrough Leaders Programme run by Global Women New Zealand, valued at $25,000.
Dairy Women's Network chief executive Zelda de Villiers says judges could not whittle down the finalists to just three this year.
"I am pleased to announce that we have another high calibre group of professional dairying women in contention for the 2015 Dairy Woman of the Year title.
"It is going to be tough choosing the overall winner because they all four depict the Dairy Woman of the Year very well. They are strong performing, passionate, influential and intelligent women who are dedicated to seeing the dairy industry thrive for future generations and the whole of New Zealand."
The 2015 winner will be announced at a gala dinner at the Dairy Women's Network annual conference on March 19 in Invercargill.
For more information on the finalists, awards and the conference, visit www.dwn.co.nz
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.
OPINION: Politicians and Wellington bureaucrats should take a leaf out of the book of Canterbury District Police Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.