Friday, March 29, 2024

Dairy awards judging under way

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Final judging is under way to find the winners in the 2014 Dairy Industry Awards.
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The winners of the sharemilker/equity farmer, farm manager and dairy trainee categories will be named at a sold-out, black tie event to be attended by 650 people at Auckland’s Sky City Hotel next Friday and will share more than $170,000 in prizes.

Judging started on Monday for the 11 sharemilker/equity farmer and 11 farm manager regional finalists.

Three judges – a farmer, banker and farm adviser – spend two hours on each finalist’s farm to critique the finalist and their farm business.

The task takes the sharemilker/equity farmer judges from Winton in Southland to Whataroa on the West Coast and Ohaewai in Northland.

The last of the regional finalists, the Auckland/Hauraki representatives, will be judged on Tuesday.

The final judging component, an interview, takes place in Auckland on Thursday.

“It’s a pretty rigorous schedule for the judges as they travel thousands of kilometres and traverse a variety of properties and meet a range of passionate and ambitious dairy farmers at varying stages of their dairy farming careers,” national convenor Chris Keeping said.

“What the judging process does do is identify some great and innovative practices that are taking place on farms across the country as well as tap into the enthusiasm the finalists have for their farm business and for the dairy industry.”

Keeping says the 10 finalists in the dairy trainee contest gather on Monday for a study tour based in Waikato and South Auckland. Judging components, including a practical session, take place during the tour.

The awards are supported by national sponsors Westpac, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda Motorcycles NZ, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown, RD1 and Triplejump along with industry partner Primary ITO.

Information on all the finalists can be found at www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz.

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