The $20,000 award prize pool for the top three categories includes a paid overseas study trip, funds for professional development and funds to take paid hours off work to complete a project or initiative that will be of benefit to the pastoral farming industry.
Last year's winners were Wairarapa consultant Chris Lewis, Canterbury consultant Wayne Allan and Hawkes Bay's Abron consultant Hannah Best.
Allan, who has his own consulting company, won the Sheep and Beef Consultant of the Year and is partway through a project of his own that looks at understanding seasonal returns from sheep and deer, and feeding on those margins to increase overall profitability.
Lewis' project was around gauging consultants' perceptions of environmental indices, where consultants are getting their information from, and what changes and opportunities they see as necessary to improve this suite of tools going forward.
Best, who was named Emerging Rural Professional in last year's awards, has recently moved on from Abron to take on a business extension role with Ballance Agri-Nutrients.
She has collected the data for her project, which is trialling an inoculum product on New Zealand farms that is not being used commercially in this country, to establish appropriate application methods and ideal application rates.
Entry criteria for the competition requires a written brief about the consultant, including a description of how they would use the 40 hours of funded research to benefit the pastoral industry.
Criteria on how the judging process is carried out will also be available for those interested.
Award nominations can be downloaded from the Farmax website from farmax.co.nz
Applications close on June 26.
