Contest offers $20,000 in prizes

Dan Billing.

Entries open on Monday for Tararua Sheep & Beef Farm Business of the Year competition.

Backed by a new organising committee and an expanded group of sponsors, this year's competition offers a total prize pool of more than $20,000.

The Tararua Shepherd of the Year competition, for which entries also open on Monday, offers prizes worth about $5000.

Entries close in mid-February.

Organising committee chairman Dan Billing said the Farm Business of the Year offers entrants the chance to review their business with the help of local experts, and is aimed at highlighting excellence and best practice in the sheep and beef industry, within the Tararua district.

"It also provides the opportunity to review their business in a way that allows them to identify further opportunities to take advantage of, areas of weakness that need to be mitigated, and to reconfirm what they are already doing well," he said.

Entrants receive coaching with the preparation of their entry and the presentation template that each entrant is required to fill in, before a two-stage judging process in which each entrant presents their farm business to judges who provides feedback on all aspects of the operation.

Billing said it gives entrants valuable insights "from an unbiased, independent viewpoint". It also includes financial analysis to allow them to better understand their strengths and weaknesses."

For more information, contact Dan Billing on 027 444 2173 or find out more via Facebook.