National convenor Chris Keeping says March is always a highlight in the awards calendar, as 33 winners from 11 regional competitions are announced.
"Our teams of judges have an interesting time as they meet our entrants and learn where their strengths and skills lie, as well as gain a sense of their enthusiasm for the industry and their future within it."
The first regional winners in the New Zealand Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year, New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year and New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year competitions will be named in Rotorua on March 2, while entrants in the Southland/Otago region are being judged and will be the last to learn their fate on March 28.
Waikato judge and Te Awamutu dairy farmer Jenny Sinclair says an aspect that emerged while judging a group of this year's sharemilker/equity farmer entrants was that all had different starts in the industry.
"There are no prerequisites for entering the dairy industry."
Sinclair says some of the entrants had obtained University qualifications, others had switched careers to dairying and some were training on the job.
"One of the fantastic things about our industry is there's so much information sharing. Most entrants were young and demonstrated that there are considerable opportunities to get ahead in the industry."
She says traditional 50% sharemilking positions are reducing in number although other opportunities are available.
"One of the big reasons for entering is to get your name out there and to get at the top of the list if there's a competitive job market."
Central Plateau judge and Waikato dairy farmer Dave Davis says there was a large variation in the aspirations of those he judged in the farm manager competition.
"There're people that are motivated to progress up the ladder fast and to go through to farm ownership, but there're also people that are happy with what they are doing and to make a career out of it," Davis says. "There was quite a variation as to what they wanted to get out of dairy farming.
"The one constant was that they all enjoy it and are passionate about it."
The Awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda Motorcycles NZ, LIC, Meridian Energy, New Zealand Farm Source, Ravensdown, and Triplejump, along with industry partner Primary ITO.
Tickets to most regional awards dinners are still available and can be purchased online at www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz.
