2011 Dairy Awards in Business

The 2011 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards is in business, with the renewed support of its major sponsors.

National convenor Chris Keeping says all sponsors have renewed their support for the awards and plans are well advanced for the 2011 programme, culminating in a national awards final in Queenstown in May next year.

“In four years under its current structure the awards has proven extremely successful with entries alone growing from 330 in 2008 to more than 500 across the three competitions in 2010.

“The awards programme is going from strength to strength as we create a pathway that helps people gain new skills, confidence and networks that will see them progress in the industry,” Mrs Keeping says.

“The continued support of our sponsors helps us – through the awards – to identify and encourage on farm excellence as well as promote leadership within the industry.”

She says sponsors play a key role and it is great to have their ongoing support.

“Some of our sponsors have been associated with the awards since their inception more than 20 years ago. Over this time, we have found a real dual benefit from sponsorship is the relationships that develop between entrants and sponsor representatives as they network, work together and learn from each other.”

The 2011 national sponsors are: Westpac, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Fonterra, Honda Motorcycles NZ, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown and RD1, along with industry partner Agriculture ITO.

Further information on the awards can be found at www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz.