Dairy women trim meeting

The dairying industry downturn has prompted the Dairy Women's Network to cancel its next annual conference.

Zelda de Villiers, the chief executive officer for the Dairy Women's Network, said it was a time when its members were hurting.

Flights and hotel accommodation were ill-afforded luxuries, she said.

The network had planned to hold the 2016 conference in Wellington over two full days in May.

"The Wellington location would have meant more people from the North Island needed to fly than if we held it in a central North Island location," said Ms de Villiers.

"And two nights of hotel accommodation and three days away from the farm is just not a luxury that many of our members can afford in the current climate, so we have decided to hold a smaller-scale conference in Hamilton in May 2016, instead.

"We are well aware of the harsh reality that many dairy farmers are facing at the moment, and that's likely to remain for the foreseeable future," said Ms de Villiers.

-See DWN website www.dwn.co.nz for more information.