Thursday, 31 January 2013 09:52

Judging kicks off

Written by 

Judging gets underway this week in the 2013 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards.

 

National convenor Chris Keeping says the judges will start the process to determine the 2013 New Zealand Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year, New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year and New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year winners.

All entrants participate in the judging process that will select the 34 regional winners in the 12 regional competitions.

"Entrants had been invited to attend information evenings during the past couple of weeks to give them a bit of an idea of what to expect when judges visit on their farms – in the case of sharemilker/equity farmer and farm manager entrants – and what is expected of them," Keeping says.

"Essentially they have two hours to present them and their farm business to the judges. They need to have a plan and they definitely don't want any distractions during that time."

Keeping says many past entrants say the judging process is the most valuable aspect of entering the dairy awards, as they learn about the strengths and weaknesses of their business and gain constructive feedback from the judges. The judges are all volunteers and include rural bankers and professionals, farm advisors and farm owners.

"Other business owners would probably pay large sums of money to have their business scrutinised for where they can make improvements and how those improvements can be made. It's one reason some entrants enter the awards multiple times."

She says the first regional winners will be known on March 2, when the Northland Dairy Industry Awards holds its awards evening. Entrants in the West Coast Top of the South region have the longest wait, with the winners in that region announced on April 11.

All regional winners will then progress to the national finals of the 2013 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards being held in Wellington on May 24. They will compete for the national titles and a prize pool of $140,000.

The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda Motorcycles NZ, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown and RD1, along with industry partner AgITO.

Visit www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz for more information on the dairy awards, including the schedule of regional awards dinners.

More like this

Keeping a watch on dairy farms

OPINION: Dairy farmers are under increasing pressure to safeguard their livestock, equipment and operations from a range of security threats.

Featured

IFSO urges flood-affected residents to document damage for insurance

Following heavy rain which caused flooding in parts of Nelson-Tasman and sewerage overflows in Marlborough, the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO Scheme) is urging homeowners and tenants to be cautious when cleaning up and to take the right steps to support claims.

National

Machinery & Products

Farming smarter with technology

The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

110,000 visitors!

OPINION: It's official, Fieldays 2025 clocked 110,000 visitors over the four days.

Sticky situation

OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter