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Progressive Meats Managing Director, Craig Hickson is the 2012 Allflex/Federated Farmers Agribusiness Person of the Year.
Scientis Doug Edmeades was named as the Ravensdown/Federated Farmers Agri Personality for 2012.
The winners were announced at a gala dinner in Auckland on Thursday night.
"We are pleased to have such high calibre award winners," says Bruce Wills, Federated Farmers president.
"Preceding our awards was the Vodafone Cream of the Crop; the only occasion I believe where all of agriculture's major award winners assemble under the same roof. It is a privilege to have so many exceptional farmers in the same room at the same time."
It was a big decision for judges Andrew Newman, Christine Fletcher and Waikato University's Professor Jacqueline Rowarth.
As Hickson is attending the LambEx conference in Australia, Beef+Lamb NZ chair, Mike Petersen, accepted the award on his behalf.
Hickson runs a mixed 1200 hectare sheep, deer and beef farm in Hawke's Bay and in addition to Progressive Meats, is a member of the Meat Board. He is also a director of Ovation New Zealand and a number of other meat companies.
Wills says Edmeades has worked closely with Federated Farmers as an expert witness and has emerged as a scientific advocate for sensible farming practices.
"Doug is a scientist who argues in the media for solutions and not problems making him a very popular choice," says Wills.
A huge reduction in ACC claims from on-farm accidents over the last five years is due to thousands of small, practical decisions being made in sheds, yards, paddocks and around kitchen tables across the country, says Safer Farms ambassador Lindy Nelson.
Certainty and a clear understanding of the needs of rural communities is a critical outcome in the series of government reforms that are taking place at present.
Waikato farmers have been told that the Government’s new planning system legislation and the region’s Plan Change 1 (PC1) “won’t mesh together very well”.
Red meat farmers are using higher farmgate returns to make their farms more resilient, says Federated Farmers meat and wool industry group chair Richard Dawkins.
Newly appointed Federated Farmers vice president Sandra Faulkner says she is honoured and excited to hold the role.
Tayla Steele is in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Veterinary Science at Massey University in Palmerston North.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) says no new cases of H5 bird flu have been detected following a case found earlier this week.
Two months after unveiling a major upgrade to its beef product, Halter says its farmers are on track for major production gains and additional grass growth.
New Zealanders are being urged to be alert following a confirmed positive case of H5 bird flu this week.
With a third of NZ dairy farmers still running outdated refrigerants, the country's largest farm refrigeration company says the opportunity for quick, meaningful emissions gains has never been clearer.
OPINION: Farmers are being put on notice by the Green Party.
