April 22 – New Zealand Association of Ruminant Nutritionists Farmers’ Conference brings together farmers and advisers to present relevant information and ideas that can be applied on-farm to improve feeding, farm management and profitability. Speakers and topics include Dr Bryan McKay on getting enough feed into cows, Dr Jacob Kleinmans on maximising feed value of forages, Natalie Chrystal on heifer rearing and Dr Sue Macky on transition management. For details and contacts visit www.nzarn.org.nz.
April 29-30 – MobileTECH 2015 includes Baxter the human-friendly robot, which is being used for a range of commercial applications overseas where it senses and reacts to people working alongside it. Unmanned aerial vehicles are also part of the two-day programme, detailing the savings, opportunities and applications for them in farming. The event will be held at the Stamford Plaza in Auckland. To view the programme and register visit www.mobiletech.events.
May
May 2 – Tickets for the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards national awards dinner can be bought online at www. dairyindustryawards.co.nz. Held at the Sky City Convention Centre in Auckland, the awards announce the national winners of the Sharemilker-Equity Farmer of the Year, the Farm Manager of the Year and the Dairy Trainee of the Year. Tickets for the event are $195 per person.
May 7 – Lincoln University Dairy Farm holds a focus day from 10.15am to 1pm to review the farm’s performance and look at the challenges and opportunities in the coming months. Details about the farm and its objectives can be viewed at www.siddc.org.nz.
May 12-14 – DairyNZ’s Mark and Measure: Strategy and Business Seminars are designed for a range of people, from sharemilkers wanting to grow their business rapidly by leveraging assets and skills to those wanting less risk, less debt and where consolidation is important. The first three-day seminar takes place in Taupo with another seminar held in Queenstown on June 9-11. The cost for levy-paying couples is $1380 including GST, while a single registration is $805 including GST. For more information and registration visit www.dairynz.co.nz.
May 20-22 – LandWISE 2015 takes a look at the farm of 2030. The 13th annual conference brings together farmers, technologists and support providers to meet with leading researchers and practitioners. The conference will be held at the Havelock North Function Centre in Hawke’s Bay and looks at what farmers need to do to ready themselves for next year, five years and 15 years down the track. To register for the conference and view the programme visit www.landwise.org.nz.
May 25-26 – New Zealand Primary Industry Summit uses a series of presentations, discussions and case studies to find out what organisations throughout NZ are doing to grow primary industries on a domestic and international level, and what can be done to improve others. The summit will be held at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of Wellington. For further information about the summit visit www.conferenz.co.nz/conferences/primary-industry-summit-0.
June
June 10-13 – The New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays kick off at Mystery Creek Events Centre in Hamilton. Entries are open for the numerous competitions at the fieldays including innovations, No 8 Wire National Art Award, ag art wear, national fencing championship, tractor pull and the rural bachelor of the year. As the largest agricultural field days in the country, it attracted more than 119,000 visitors through the gates last year with its trade exhibits, latest innovations and competitions. For more information and to buy tickets online visit www.fieldays.co.nz.
June 14 – The 2015 World Jersey Conference and tour begins in The Netherlands and ends in Denmark on July 3. The full programme is at www.jersey.org.nz.
June 15-19 – The 2015 SMASH (Smaller Milk and Supply Herds) conferences are themed Farming with Vision and are aimed at helping farmers with smaller operations run successful businesses. To register, visit www.smallerherds.co.nz. Locations and dates: Northland, June 15June 17June 19.
June 22-24 – The 2015 South Island Dairy Event (SIDE) takes place at Lincoln University near Christchurch with a lineup of speakers and 30 workshops covering global trends to practical farming knowledge. Information on the event will be posted on www.side.org.nz.
June 28 – The New Zealand Society of Animal Production (NZSAP) holds its 2015 conference in Dunedin’s art gallery, looking at farm systems, beef production, dairy sheep and genomic selection. For further details visit www.nzsap.org.
