Industry monitoring dry conditions
While it has been a great spring and summer for farmers, soil moisture levels in the Waikato are now plummeting as the dry February starts to bite.
The seventh annual PINZ Awards are part of the two-day PINZ Summit taking place at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre on 24 and 25 June.
Federated Farmers chief executive Terry Copeland says that with tariffs sparking disruption and uncertainty in export markets, New Zealand needs the primary sector to be innovative and enterprising.
“The PINZ Awards celebrate our primary industry movers and shakers – the science and food production teams delivering a market edge for our exported goods, the leaders who go the extra mile,” Copeland says.
“Their efforts inspire others and lift the employment prospects and standards of living for fellow Kiwis,” he adds.
The 2025 finalists for the Rural Hero Award are Chris Allen, Neil Bateup, and Ian Jury.
Allen died in an accident on his Ashburton farm last December having given 14 years’ service as an elected Federated Farmers leader, including eight years on the national board.
A champion of rural causes, he steered a pragmatic and balanced approach on environment and water issues, earning respect from both farmers and those with opposing views.
Bateup helped set up the Waikato Hauraki Coromandel Rural Support Trust in 2004 and in 2017 became the founding chair of the NZ Rural Support Trust.
85-year-old Jury has spent 20 years raising money for the Taranaki rescue helicopter by collecting batteries for recycling.
Meanwhile, four young women have been selected as finalists for the Emerging Leader Award.
A contract milker overseeing the expansion of her employing farm from 270 to 850 cows, Bridie Virbickas put her hand up to be Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty sharefarmer chair to ensure a voice for the district’s young farmers is at the decision-making table.
The role has seen her help out in a number of cases where the relationship between a sharefarmer and farm owner has broken down.
Imogen Brankin, Silver Fern Farms’ on-farm sustainability advisor, was the winner of the 2022 Polson Higgs and Young Farmers Innovation Competition, speaking on the topic "Can Farming Deliver a Sustainable Future for New Zealand", and was part of a team of five who competed in the 2023 IFAMA Global Case Study Competition.
Onions NZ general manager Kazi Talaska has served on the Food and Fibre Youth Council, latterly as chair, and champions the Vegetable Industry Centre of Excellence to support the vegetable industry research pipeline.
Talaska worked with industry partners and growers to obtain $2 million in funding to set up a first-of-its-kind vegetable research farm, in Pukekohe.
The fourth Emerging Leader Award finalist is agricultural sustainability coach Lucy Brown. Through her work with the MPI-funded Integrated Farm Planning project, and in other roles, she’s found ways to show farmers sustainability is not just a theoretical concept but something that is practical and achievable.
Full List of 2025 Primary Industries NZ Award finalists
Emerging Leader Award
Bridie Virbickas, Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty Sharemilker Chair
Imogen Brankin, On-Farm Sustainability Advisor, Silver Fern Farms
Kazi Talaska, General Manager, Onions NZ
Lucy Brown, The Whole Story
Champion Award
David Wheeler, senior scientist, AgResearch
James (Jim) Ward, manager, Molesworth Station
Dr Robyn Dynes, principal scientist and farmer engagement specialist, AgResearch
Team and Collaboration Award
nProve for Beef – online genetics tool, Beef + Lamb New Zealand
Food System Integrity Team, AgResearch, led by Dr Gale Brightwell
An open data sharing ecosystem: Fonterra, Ballance, Ravensdown, and LIC
Technology Innovation Award
TEO for Ovitage®, the world's most complete collagen
FAR for Combine Workshops - increasing productivity on arable farms
Alliance Group NZ for Meat Eating Quality (MEQ) technology
Food, Beverage and Fibre Producer Award
hia Sisters
Kiwi Econet - founder, Grant Lightfoot
New Image International
Guardianship & Conservation/Kaitiakitanga Award
Pāua Dashboard - Pāua Industry Council
The eDNA for water quality Team - led by Dr Adrian Cookson
Pacificvet, co-founder Kent Deitemeyer
Rural Hero of the Year
Chris Allen (posthumous)
Neil Bateup, Founder, Rural Support Trust
Ian Jury, Taranaki grassroots good sort
