"The overwhelmingly positive feedback we receive from entrants is how much they learnt during the process and how glad they are they entered," she says.
"Entrants tell us that they really had to sit down and look at their business and how they were doing things on the farm and why.
"Entering the awards really is a learning journey — about the industry, about your business and about you as a farmer," says Chris. "It's a unique opportunity for farmers to learn, connect with other like-minded people and grow both personally and professionally."
The awards are supported by national sponsors DeLaval, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra Farm Source, Honda Motorcycles, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown and Westpac along with industry partners Dairy NZ and Primary ITO.
The three competitions in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are:
■ The Share Farmer of the Year — open to all self-employed farmers largely responsible for the day-to-day running of the farm, such as sharemilkers, contract milkers, lessees and equity farm managers.
■ The Dairy Manager of the Year competition — open to all salaried farm workers, including farm assistants, assistant farm managers, 2ICs, operations managers, farm managers, herd managers, production managers and others.
■ The Dairy Trainee of the Year contest is open to those aged between 18 to 25 years who are currently employed on a dairy farm fulltime and have no more than three years fulltime experience on a dairy farm.
A Regional Winners Field Day will be held on Thursday, April 11 at a venue yet to be announced.
To purchase tickets for the Hawke's Bay/Wairarapa Awards Dinner and for more information on the New Zealand Dairy Awards visit www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz.
