For the first time the event is being held in Dunedin, instead of Invercargill or Lincoln, with the theme ‘People, Perception, Pride’.
Organising committee chairman Brangka Munan says the three words kept cropping up in the committee’s discussions on key issues to cover.
“The industry can’t do without good people, and it owes itself to the people, pioneers, of the early days... We owe the people who have gone before, and the industry relies on good people to take it to the next era.”
‘Perception’ refers to addressing dairying’s image with an increasingly urban population ever more distant from the nation’s farming roots.
“There’s a generation of city people who have had little, if any, contact with rural folk and they rely on the media to understand what farmers are up to. If that’s all they see, there’s quite a bit of negative stuff.
“Big companies and individuals in the industry need to re-engage with urban New Zealanders because we’re actually much the same people... Get the perception right, and it’s powerful. Get it wrong, and it’s hard to combat.”
The pride element ties in with perception: if all in the industry are proud, and justifiably so, of what they do, then it will help change the perception, says Munan.
“There was for a while a general feeling of being a little ashamed about environmental issues, but those, I believe, are largely behind us, except for the handful who will always struggle. There’s enough good stuff going on now for us to be proud of. We lead the world in pastoral dairy farming and we do so in an environmentally friendly way.”
The event’s format is unchanged, with workshops on practical issues dovetailed between keynote addresses by speakers such as trans-Atlantic rower Rob Hamill and Swazi clothing founder Davey Hughes.
Workshops cover the full spectrum of farm management issues, from grazing and calf rearing, to staffing, finances, career progression and environmental aspects. Delegates get to chose two from five or six in each session, so there are hard choices.
Meanwhile, the conference within a conference, BusinessSIDE, returns, looking deeper into the big picture issues such as the industry’s image, the global economy, marketing, and the ever thorny subject of succession and business structures.
Munan is “fairly confident” the diversity of the offering, and the new catchment area, will see registrations come close to the university venue capacity of 500.
“What we offer is a conference that caters for someone just starting out in the industry, in their first pair of gumboots, through to someone who has multiple farms and other business interests.”
If anything, the recent downturn in commodity prices provides even more reason to attend, he adds.
Early bird registration of $275 inc GST closes May 31. $300 thereafter. BusinessSIDE is an extra $110. See www.side.org.nz
