Tips for farmers on what not to drink

Farmers used to have a reputation for eating too much bacon and eggs.

Now, it seems, they are drinking too many of the sugar-filled, caffeine-laden drinks usually associated with young townies on a big night out.

"My husband is a classic drinker of V," says Mangakino dairy farmer Jo Buckley.

Mrs Buckley, attending a Network for Women in Dairying conference in Rotorua, said her husband drank two or three cans of the syrupy drink daily.

He used it to keep him going during long days tending their herd of 750 cows, she said.

Two of her friends said their partners did the same, as did other dairying women attending the conference's "Balancing the Body" workshop, presented by leading dietitian Jeni Pearce.

Ms Pearce, a nutritional adviser to NZ Olympic and Commonwealth Games teams, said drinking energy drinks with high caffeine and sugar content was a dangerously fattening habit.

A can of V or Red Bull contained the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar and the same caffeine as two cups of coffee.

"Why would anyone want to drink two cold cups of coffee with 10 teaspoons of sugar?"

A less harmful pick-me-up was Coke diluted with water. Sports drinks such as Powerade and Lucozade were also acceptable and contained fewer calories than pure fruit juice.

Ms Pearce also recommended dairying women have two breakfasts, one before morning milking and one after.

The second breakfast should be rich in protein such as baked beans, cheese, lean bacon, eggs or yoghurt.

Farmer and former behavioural therapist Sophie Vanner said eating properly while juggling milking, calving, feeding staff and other farm chores was difficult. "You just have to be really organised."

Ms Pearce's workshop and a workshop on managing farm finances presented by accountant and dairy farmer Charmaine O'Shea were the most popular at the conference.

The general manager of Network for Women in Dairying, Lynda Clark, said their popularity was a reflection of two prime concerns for dairying women.

"We need to look after ourselves as well as the business."

The network was established in 1998, after the Second International Conference for Women in Agriculture in Washington DC, with the aim of educating women for a greater role in dairying business.

The organisation has an online network of about 500 members and 18 regional groups which hold regular meetings.

It holds two conferences each year - one in the North Island and one in the South Island.