Ask the pastoral experts

NZME. regionals

18 Jun, 2015 06:00 AM3 mins to read

Hannah Best.

The hunt is on again for New Zealand's top dairy, sheep and beef agricultural consultants and emerging rural professional, with the opening of nominations for the Farmax Consultant of the Year Awards.

This year's winners will be announced at the New Zealand Institute of Primary Industry Management's (NZIPIM) conference on August 3 in Ashburton.

The awards comprise three major categories: Dairy NZ Consultant of the Year, the Beef + Lamb NZ Sheep and Beef Consultant of the Year, and the NZIPIM Emerging Rural Professional of the Year.

Farmax general manager Gavin McEwen says the Farmax Awards, now in their third year, recognise the expertise and value that agricultural consultants and rural professionals provide to the New Zealand pastoral farming industry.

"Agricultural consultants and rural professionals not only promote excellence in pastoral farming in New Zealand but, through their advice and skills, contribute directly to many new Zealand farmer's bottom line."

The $20,000 award prize pool for the top three categories includes a paid overseas study trip, funds for professional development and funds to take paid hours off work to complete a project or initiative that will be of benefit to the pastoral farming industry.

Last year's winners were Wairarapa consultant Chris Lewis, Canterbury consultant Wayne Allan and Hawkes Bay's Abron consultant Hannah Best.

Allan, who has his own consulting company, won the Sheep and Beef Consultant of the Year and is partway through a project of his own that looks at understanding seasonal returns from sheep and deer, and feeding on those margins to increase overall profitability.

Lewis' project was around gauging consultants' perceptions of environmental indices, where consultants are getting their information from, and what changes and opportunities they see as necessary to improve this suite of tools going forward.

Best, who was named Emerging Rural Professional in last year's awards, has recently moved on from Abron to take on a business extension role with Ballance Agri-Nutrients.

She has collected the data for her project, which is trialling an inoculum product on New Zealand farms that is not being used commercially in this country, to establish appropriate application methods and ideal application rates.

Entry criteria for the competition requires a written brief about the consultant, including a description of how they would use the 40 hours of funded research to benefit the pastoral industry.