Friday, March 29, 2024

Network boosts confidence

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Tuatapere dairy farmer Jo Sanford says going to the 2007 Dairy Women’s Network conference in Invercargill changed her life.
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“We were in the process of converting from sheep so I went along looking to gain some knowledge about dairying,” she said.

What she came away with instead was a new goal to become more involved in her community, to take on greater responsibilities and to push herself into roles she thought she would never be able to do.

“I went along and I just thought this was amazing. Here was the conference chair Michelle Wilson, who I knew, standing up on stage in front of all these people and talking and I decided I wanted to prove to myself I could that too.”

And she did. The next time the conference was in Invercargill in 2011 she was the conference chairwoman making the opening address.

She has since been involved with the organisation of every conference and is in charge of venues, IT and catering for this year’s one, again in Invercargill, at the ILT Stadium Southland on March 18 and 19.

She is encouraging all dairying women to attend.

“The networking is just incredible. You will meet so many people and they will be the ones who will encourage and support you in what you choose to do next.”

In 2013 she went on the Waiau Health Trust Board, which she became chairwoman of last year, was elected to the Tuatapere Community Board, and went on the Tuatapere Community Workers Trust, the Borland Lodge Education Trust and the Tuatapere Medical Trust.

“I wouldn’t have done any of it without the skills I learnt through Dairy Women’s Network.

“And I didn’t ask to go on these trusts – people asked me so they must have seen in me the skills that were needed.”

She and her husband milk 780 cows and although she worked in admin roles before her children were born, life on the farm soon took over.

“There was a gap. I wasn’t working with a variety of people for that time. I lost the confidence that I was good at things besides the farm. Dairy Women’s Network and helping to organise their conferences and getting involved gave me all that again.”

The 2015 conference theme is Entering Tomorrow’s World and there will be eight workshops on subjects such as financial management, sustainable environments, a presentation by High Performance Sport NZ psychologist David Galbraith, farmer wellness, animal lameness and legal liability.

Public and employment law specialist Mai Chen will open the conference with Jacqueline Chow, who looks after Fonterra Group’s customer and consumer brands’ portfolio, opening day two and Dame Jenny Shipley closing the conference later that day.

Shipley, who was New Zealand’s first female prime minister, is a director, adviser and keynote speaker who runs her own consultancy, chairs Global Women New Zealand and a number of companies and is a member of the World Women’s Leaders Council.

A Southland farm tour focusing on wintering systems is also part of the conference.

On the Wednesday night the Dairy Woman of the Year will be announced. Of the four finalists, three come from the South Island – Alexandra animal nutritionist Andrea Murphy, Waimate dairy director Wilma Van Leeuwen, and West Coast Federated Farmers board member and provincial president Katie Milne.

Waikato dairy farmer Elaine Cook, who is a director of the Southland Dairy Demonstration Farm, is the fourth finalist.

Early bird registrations close on February 28. Visit www.dwn.co.nz to register.

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