A rollercoaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
ENTRIES IN THE 2014 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are running neck-and-neck with last year.
National convenor Chris Keeping says 251 entries have been received in the Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year, Farm Manager of the Year and Dairy Trainee of the Year competitions compared with 248 entries at the same time last year.
"We're about three weeks in and it is amazing how close the numbers are – it definitely indicates we are on target to reach or even better last year's record 566 entry numbers."
Keeping says people have about one week left to enter and be eligible for the Early Bird Entry Prize Draw of three Honda XR125 Duster farm bikes, each valued at $4000. One bike will be drawn from those that enter early (before December 1) in each competition.
All entries are being accepted online at www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz and close on December 20.
The Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda Motorcycles NZ, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown, RD1, Triplejump, along with industry partner Primary ITO (formerly AgITO).
Of the entries received to date, the dairy trainee contest is proving the most popular with 132 entries received. The farm manager contest has received 78 entries and the sharemilker/equity farmer contest has 41 entries.
"Obviously we'd like to see some more entries in the prestigious sharemilker/equity farmer contest which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2014. We recognise there is much more work to do to enter the sharemilker contest than the trainee contest, but know the benefits to all who enter make it worth the while."
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has informed staff it will cut 391 jobs following a consultation period.