Lesley Roberts says entering the competition changed their lives and they continue to be involved because of the great support of the community and sponsors.
"The whole process is really rewarding,'' she says.
"It's all about the education along the way. You get really good advice on how your business can be improved and there are great networking opportunities.
"And if you are lucky enough to win, there are some amazing prizes,'' she says.
She says the intense scrutiny of all aspects of the farming business means no weaknesses can be hidden.
"If you say you are achieving something, you must be able to prove it and back it up with documentation."
Northland's representatives have won the major title of Share Farmer of the Year for the past two years in a row.
It is a high accolade for the region and shows the dedication of the young farmers who are rising through the ranks.
This year the robust nature of the competition has been proved with entrants to the Share Farmer of the Year category now able to have the body of work they prepare for the awards count towards modules in the New Zealand Diploma in Agribusiness Management.
The Recognition of Prior Learning is a formal recognition of the knowledge and skills already gained through working in the industry.
Roberts says this development will increase the value of participating in the awards process.
The dairy trainee entrants all have interviews and are set practical tasks, while those in the dairy manager and share farmer competitions have to provide comprehensive presentations to impress judges on their farms over several hours.
"The judging is all based on points. While they never see the points, the entrants do get extensive feedback that they can use to improve their farming business,'' Roberts says.
"The judges are all quality operators. They have to be up to date with their knowledge as farming involves so much technology now,'' she says.
The Dairy Industry Awards is split into three main competitions.
The Dairy Trainee of the Year has judging between January 28 and 30 with finals on February 17; Dairy Manager of the Year and Share Farmer of the Year entrants have preliminary judging between February 3 and 5 with finals between February 18 and 20.
This year there are 12 entrants in the dairy trainee section, and eight each in the dairy manager and share farmer competitions.
The awards dinner is held at Semenoff Stadium on March 7 and tickets are on sale early next year.
Winning award huge boost for couple
Winning the national award for New Zealand Share Farmers of the Year has been a huge boost to Wellsford couple Colin and Isabella Beazley.
Isabella says winning the 2019 title was "pretty awesome" and provided satisfaction in the acknowledgement of all of their hard work.
The Beazleys, both aged 31, are 50/50 Sharemilkers for Neil Jones and Wendy Crow-Jones' 163ha Wellsford property.
The couple had entered the awards twice before.
"We had worked so hard for it so it was quite a journey. It meant so much on a whole lot of levels."
The $52,000 prize package included free products and services as well as opportunities for free study.
"I think the real value of the competition is the feedback on every aspect of our farm business from the judges who are all, in effect, professional farm advisers.
"The advice we got has been so valuable, and we've been able to grow our business from milking 330 cows to 530 cows in a very short time," she said.
Now team leaders for Northland in their category, the couple will be encouraging the new crop of entrants on their judging journey.
