Dairy industry awards regional finals underway
Manawatu became the first region to announce its finalists for the 2024 Dairy Industry Awards.
The 2018 Dairy Manager of the Year winner Gerard Boerjan aims for excellence in everything he does.
“He has great experience as a manger of people and a great passion for working with people in a large team environment,” dairy manager head judge Mary Craw says.
“He takes a systems approach to the way he manages the farm and has good systems in place to ensure nothing gets through the gaps.
“Everything is well documented, he covers health and safety to an exceptional level and his financial understanding is of the highest calibre.”
Boerjan (50) has successfully farmed in Portugal and Brazil and is now farm manager for Trevor Hamilton on his 553ha Takapau property. He won $22,600 in cash and prizes and won the DairyNZ Employee Engagement and the Westpac Financial Management and Planning merit awards.
The judges say Boerjan is a stand-alone manager who doesn’t just assume things are getting done; he closely monitors things.
“He regularly reviews the information he gets against onfarm targets.
“He’s always monitoring multiple systems to report back to the farm owners and has good procedures in place to do so.
“Gerard possesses the ability to manage a large, complex business with an absentee owner. Every detail of the farm is closely monitored but there’s a real human touch to it.”
The Commerce Commission says connectivity options for rural New Zealanders are front-of-mind as it begins a formal investigation into the future of the copper network.
Grand Finalists have been selected, all regional finals have concluded, and the journey towards the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final is underway.
Hopes of NZ sheepmeat prices picking up anytime soon in the country's key export market of China looks highly unlikely.
Regional councils are welcoming the certainty for councils in today’s Resource Management Act (RMA) announcement by the Government.
ASB says the decision to sign on to the AgriZeroNZ joint venture came out of a wish to be a part of the solution.
Federated Farmers says changes announced to the Resource Management Act today mark the end of the war on farming.