Something special happens between March and August for agribusinesses in New Zealand….and no, we’re not talking about kiwifruit harvest, calving, lambing…we’re talking about the off-farm celebrations of our on-farm heroes. Across the motu March to August marks awards season for our primary sector heroes. From national awards to large corporate annual celebrations to on-farm recognition awards, awards season is one of our favourite times of the year.
And in a recent 8-Steps programme in Te Awamutu we were lucky enough to have two winners of national significance in the room, working alongside other participants to grown and develop their skills in management and leadership practices. Shout out to Kirwyn Ellis, Winner of the Dairy Industry Awards Trainee of the Year and Kim Turner, Farm Manager at Wairarapa Moana ki Pouākani Incorporation that won the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori dairy farm along with our other amazing attendees. We had so much fun while learning along the way!
And that’s what awards season is really about for us…learning from the excellence of others and having some fun along the way. It was humbling putting this article together to see the expertise, knowledge, passion and commitment of so many in our food and fibre sectors. We get to attend many client celebrations too and to see the joy, humility and to feel the excitement as whole businesses come together to celebrate their collective achievements as well as those individuals that particularly shined this year. It makes us smile, it makes us feel all warm inside and, above all, it makes us so confident in the future of our sector and the people in it.
So we’ve pulled together a little reminder of awards season 2024 and would encourage you to find the things to celebrate in your business and share them not only with those in your business but also with those in your community and beyond…there’s lots to celebrate!
Primary Industry Awards
https://event.brightstar.co.nz/PrimaryIndustriesNewZealandSummitandAwards2024#/awards?lang=en
Ahuwhenua Trophy
https://www.ahuwhenuatrophy.maori.nz/about/winners
Dairy Industry Awards
https://www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz/national-results/
Balance Farm Environment Awards
2024 Award Recipients for the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (nzfeawards.org.nz)
FMG Young Farmer of the Year
https://www.youngfarmers.co.nz/news/george-dodson-takes-out-tasman-fmg-young-farmer-of-the-year