Rewarding farmers who embrace sustainability
Winners of DairyNZ’s Sustainability and Stewardship awards in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards have their eyes firmly fixed on progressing a positive future for New Zealand dairy.
How many times over the last week have you or anyone on your farm had to wait for something, or spent time searching for a misplaced item?
That's something Sarah Watson and DairyNZ Regional Leader Richard Kyte plan to ask dairy farmers attending the 2016 South Island Dairy Event (SIDE) in Invercargill on June 20 to 22.
SIDE is an annual three-day dairy conference organised by farmers for farmers to learn, network, and find inspiration and motivation. The programme combines stimulating presentations with practical workshops on dairy farming and business management.
The pair are presenting a workshop at SIDE, their mission to help farmers hunt down their own time-wasters, be they searching for a lost tool, not being able to finish a task on-time because you're waiting for something, or having to reorder drugs because they're run passed their use-by date.
While these examples are seemingly small, they can add up, its improving time efficiency that makes the day-to-day work easier and less stressful, improves productivity, and ultimately boosts the bottom line.
PeopleMAD owner Ms Watson has been running the Dairy NZ FarmTune programme, and has seen farms save up to half an hour a milking per person each day simply by identifying waste then fine-tuning the process.
She and Mr Kyte plan to give farmers some take home tips on lean thinking to help focus their energy on the things that matter, add value to the business and help the whole team to operate efficiently.
"Everyone will have something they can improve; we're just equipping workshop attendees with the tools needed to objectively look at their systems with their teams to find what their own time issues are."
"There are a lot of things impacting on the business which are outside our control – this is one positive way of taking back some control and hopefully influencing profitability. And the beauty of this way of reviewing day-to-day operations and noticing the waste is that it costs nothing."
SIDE organisers are urging South Island farmers to take time off and attend this year's event, as now, more than ever, is the time to talk, share ideas, and benefit from social interaction with peers.
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Waikato herd health veterinarian Katrina Roberts is the 2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand has no intention of backing down in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
OPINION: The new government has clearly signalled big cuts across the public service.
OPINION: Your canine crusader is not surprised by the recent news that New Zealand plant-based ‘fake meat’ business is in…