Otago farmers attending the Dairy Environment Leaders' Forum in Wellington are (from left) Stephen Korteweg, Callum Kingan, Rhys Hamilton, Shane Bocock, Mark Shore, Georgina McCall, Peter Dobbie, Ad Bekkers and Lyndon Strang.
Otago farmers attending the Dairy Environment Leaders' Forum in Wellington are (from left) Stephen Korteweg, Callum Kingan, Rhys Hamilton, Shane Bocock, Mark Shore, Georgina McCall, Peter Dobbie, Ad Bekkers and Lyndon Strang.
Otago dairy farming leaders joined their counterparts from throughout the country at the recent annual Dairy Environment Leaders Forum in Wellington.
About 100 farmers were invited after being identified as leaders in their community. The theme was Dairying Leading Change - Accelerating Influence.
Guest speaker All Black mental skills masterGilbert Enoka urged those attending to set high challenges for themselves, think clearly and do the work required to meet those challenges.
Former Telecom chief executive and My Food Bag co-founder Theresa Gattung recommended the farmers develop a narrative around their role as food producers, similar to stories being told by the ethical fashion sector.
The forum also focused on environmental issues and celebrated achievements to date. By next year, farmers would have excluded dairy cattle from all significant waterways and wetlands with nearly 25,000km of fencing.
Otago farm overseer Shane Bocock said a theme throughout the forum was the importance of a farmer-led, co-ordinated approach to environmental improvement.
The Pomahaka Water Care Group was a good example of farmers working together to make a difference in their catchment, he said.
