The Country host Jamie Mackay, broadcasting at the 2026 Golden Shears.
Jamie Mackay’s role as one of the country’s leading rural voices has been recognised with a place among the finalists at this year’s Primary Industries New Zealand Awards.
His inclusion in the Agricultural Communicator of the Year category sits within a wider field that spans everything from a billion-dollar apple brand to grassroots rural leadership, reflecting the breadth of talent across the sector.
This year also marks the first time two awards from the Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators have been brought into the awards fold.
Host of The Country, Mackay joins fellow broadcaster Dom George of Rural Exchange and former Special Agricultural Trade Envoy Hamish Marr, as finalists in the Agricultural Communicator of the Year category.
RNZ journalist Alexa Cook, BusinessDesk’s Riley Kennedy, and Farmers Weekly writers Richard Rennie and Neal Wallace are in the running for the Excellence in Agricultural Journalism Rongo Award.
Veteran awards judge Justin Courtney, of Dawn Chorus Consulting, said it was a sound move to incorporate the two awards into the wider sector celebration.
“We should be recognising the storytellers who shed light on our industry,” he said.
“These journalists, communicators and broadcasters also have a real passion for our sector.
“They do a great job passing information back to the farming community and the wider public, so people have a deeper understanding of what makes us tick.”
Respected agricultural commentator Alan Emerson, a judge across multiple PINZ categories, said he was deeply impressed by the calibre of this year’s nominations.
“The standard has always been incredibly high, but this time it feels like it’s gone through the roof,” Emerson said.
He said nominations were so strong that several categories could have been split while still justifying further recognition.
“That was particularly so with the new Rural Woman of the Year Award, and in categories such as the Champion and Agricultural Communicator of the Year awards.”
Finalists in the inaugural Rural Woman of the Year Award are Beef + Lamb NZ chair Kate Acland, Federated Farmers national board member Sandra Faulkner, and Sarah Donaldson of the East Coast Rural Support Trust.
Judges said the finalists for the Food, Beverage and Fibre Product Award, also underlined the strength of this year’s entries.
Bucking a tradition of importing all of New Zealand’s bird seed requirements, the Webster and Mitchell families of North Otago established Topflite, growing the business from just 2ha of sunflowers into an enterprise growing and supplying 1600 tonnes of bird and small animal seed each year.
Topflite is up against pioneering blueberry growers, artisanal winemakers and gourmet product innovators Mamaku Blue, and T&G Global’s premium Envy apple enterprise, the country’s first billion-dollar apple brand.
Team and Collaboration Award finalists include the WaterForce team, which demonstrated exceptional speed in restoring irrigation infrastructure after severe winds in Canterbury last October.
They are up against A Lighter Touch, a 13-stakeholder collaboration driving agro-ecological crop protection and other innovations, and Sow the Seed, which successfully secured agricultural and horticultural science as a standalone secondary school subject.
“In a time when around the world people might be struggling to find stories of success, these award nominations show our sector is thriving,” Courtney said.
“That’s off the back of a massive effort from people featuring in these nominations for the way they look after the land, the products they put into the market, or the science and research efforts that help drive that progress.
“They’re all a credit to New Zealand.”
The awards night, a highlight of the PINZ Summit at the Cordis Hotel on June 23-24, will celebrate the leaders, producers, scientists, research teams and innovators driving progress across the primary sector.
Three finalists in each of nine categories have been announced, with winners to be named in Auckland on June 23.
As is tradition, there are no finalists for the Outstanding Contribution to New Zealand’s Primary Industries Award — the recipient will be revealed on the night.
Agricultural Communicator of the Year
Champion Award
Emerging Leader Award
Excellence in Agricultural Journalism Rongo Award
Food, Beverage and Fibre Product Award
Guardianship and Conservation (Kaitiakitanga) Award
Rural Woman of the Year
Team and Collaboration Award
Technology and Innovation Project Award