Strong field of finalists

Federated Farmers chief executive Terry Copeland says judges will struggle to pick just a few winners from this year's vast array of entrants.

For example, for the Team & Collaboration Award, judges will have to choose between a five-year initiative to implement plantain as an environmentally functional forage, an all-women team that harnessed empathy and precision to devise digital farm plans, and a multi-organisation collaboration striving to create new solutions to the challenges facing hill country farmers.

For the Fibre Produce Award, they must select a winner from an equine feed that started on a date, a vertically integrated sawmilling business, and a traditional sheep station that has pursued a boutique fibre business with crafters and home spinners in mind.

"Those are the finalists in just two of the nine categories that feature in the 2023 Primary Industries New Zealand Awards," Copeland says.

The awards ceremony will take place on July 3 at Tākina, Wellington’s new Convention and Exhibition Centre.

"There were 65 award nominations this year, and they underline the amazing diversity, commitment and cutting-edge science that underpin our nation’s primary industries," Copeland says.

"It’s little wonder that our primary food and fibre products are so highly regarded in the intensely competitive international marketplace when, through these awards, you get a glimpse into the dedication and focus our researchers, producers, processors, innovators, and governors invest in being the best they can be."

An Outstanding Contributor to our primary industries will be named at the awards ceremony.

In the running are Lincoln University Honorary Professor of Agri-Food Systems Keith Woodford, a man who has done much to foster the integration of production with agribusiness; Dr Tim Mackle, who at the end of June ends a 15-year stint and immense contribution as DairyNZ chief executive; and Julian O’Brien who has produced TVNZ’s Country Calendar since 2005 and began working on it in the 1980s.

One of the most hotly contested categories is the Technology Innovation Award. Finalists are Levno for Milk, an IoT technology and software-driven system to maximise the production and quality of milk; DairySmart NZ, an initiative involving everyone from RFID data specialists to microbiologists to lower antibiotic use; and E-bin, a University of Waikato project that uses robotics to help the human workforce with kiwifruit harvesting.

"I don’t envy the judges deciding who the winners should be, but I know the awards night and the PINZ Summit will be a showcase of everything that is great in our agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors," Copeland says.