increase font size
Supplied by DWN; Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award recipients, Loshni Manikam (2018), Belinda Price (2021), Donna Cram (2023), Barbara Kuriger (2012), and Trish Rankin (2019).
Nominations have opened for the Fonterra Dairy Women of the Year, marking 13 years of the award.
Each year, women from across New Zealand’s food and fibre sector who are part of Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) are nominated for the prestigious award.
Jules Benton, DWN chief executive, says the nominated women have a commitment, drive, and passion for the dairy sector as a whole and are positive role models for women in dairying.
“We encourage our dairy women across Aotearoa New Zealand to put themselves forward for this award,” Benton says.
“They can either be nominated or apply themselves. Every day I meet women doing amazing things for their community and country and this award goes a small way to recognizing their efforts,” she says.
As well as the title of Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year, the 2024 winner will receive a scholarship to the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, which includes the programme fee, travel, accommodation, mentoring and access to DWN and Fonterra platforms to share their research.
Over the years, the judging panel, led by Donna Smit, has had strong criteria for the applicants.
“Our Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year needs to be a strong performer, who is recognised by her peers as a potential leader and who demonstrates leadership within her community and further afield,” says Smit. “She is influential in the dairy sector; holding or having held leadership positions on regional or national dairy organisations. Ultimately, she has a vision to add to the dairy sector’s future and is actively working towards achieving that in her leadership aspirations.”
All finalists will have a professional video recorded and have conference costs, travel and accommodation paid for to attend the 2024 DWN conference and gala dinner.
The 2025 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year, Jo Sheridan, has paid tribute to women who apart from their farming connections are making contributions to their local schools and communities.
Waikato farmer, and Owl Farm demonstration manager, Jo Sheridan is the 2025 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
Three farmers making contributions to the wider dairy sector have been chosen as this year’s finalists for the prestigious Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year title.
Investing in your people and in your own leadership skills is the path to success for a farming business, says economist Shamubeel Eaqub.
Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) has announced real estate company Bayleys will be the naming partner for its 2025 conference.
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
'Common sense' cuts to government red tape will make it easier for New Zealand to deliver safe food to more markets.
Balclutha farmer Renae Martin remembers the moment she fell in love with cows.
Academic freedom is a privilege and it's put at risk when people abuse it.
OPINION: Should cows in NZ be microchipped?
OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…
