Dairy power
OPINION: The good times felt across the dairy sector weren't lost at last week's Beef + Lamb NZ annual meeting.
Dairy Womens Network will hold its annual meeting this week with the theme celebrating success and reward for hard work.
Chief executive Zelda de Villiers says there is plenty to celebrate: higher membership and event numbers, new commercial partners, financial stability and innovative ways of working.
"Looking back at the last 12 months, we have achieved a lot," she says. "It has been a year of growth and change and developing pilots -- in particular with the modified Dairy Modules in place of Dairy Days." The modules have drawn bigger numbers, she says.
"DairyNZ was instrumental in the development and funding of the module concept and we are grateful for their ongoing support."
Some 991 people attended the Dairy Modules in the last financial year, half of them non-DWN members. Membership rose from 5000 to 8100 in that time, and event numbers from 134 to 214.
"We... are committed to offering and facilitating quality connections for our members that make positive differences to their personal lives and businesses," says de Villiers.
"An organisation that connects like-minded, successful people is necessary at the best of times and crucial in the current climate.
"With our commercial partners we have been able to offer a wide range of opportunities for our members to connect, learn and upskill in the business of dairying."
The network signed up commercial partners LIC, Whatever Marketing and FMG during the 2014-2015 financial year. MSD Animal Health and Farmsource increased their support, and "a very generous donation" came from gold partner ASB.
The network has re-established inactive regional groups, recruited new regional convenors and increased the regional group count from 26 to 33.
"We have developed and centralised our database so we have a much better understanding of the demographic and profile of our members.
"Justine Kidd also signed on as our board chair.... She is doing a wonderful job, as are the rest of our dynamic team."
The network held a conference in Invercargill in March, with trade stands and "inspiring" key speakers.
de Villiers says the network is stable financially, its first audit showing it to be on track to keep growing its balance sheet year on year.
Its next conference will be in Hamilton in May, themed 'United to succeed'.
"And upcoming modules 'Taking care of your cash' and 'Step up to safety' are relevant to the climate."
The network has set up a group at Lincoln University for young women entering farming.
Federated Farmers supports a review of the current genetic technology legislation but insists that a farmer’s right to either choose or reject it must be protected.
New Zealand’s top business leaders are urging the US Administration to review “unjustified and discriminatory tariffs” imposed on Kiwi exporters.
New tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump signal an uncertain future, but New Zealand farmers know how to adapt to changing conditions, says Auriga Martin, chief executive of Farm Focus.
A global trade war beckons, which is bad news for a small open economy like New Zealand, warns Mark Smith ASB senior economist.
Carterton's Awakare Farm has long stood as a place where family, tradition and innovation intersect.
Fonterra says the US continues to be an important market for New Zealand dairy and the co-op.
OPINION: Is it the beginning of the end for Greenpeace?
OPINION: The good times felt across the dairy sector weren't lost at last week's Beef + Lamb NZ annual meeting.