YOUR NEW CAREER STARTS HERE -RLQ XV DW 7HOIRUG IRU FHUWLȴFDWH DQG diploma level studies in Agriculture, Wool Technology, Equine and more. Live on-campus or as a day student and become part of the Telford experience. Visit sit.ac.nz/telford or call 0800 TELFORD STUDY FOR FREE ANYWHERE WITH SIT2LRN Limited time o er – for intakes between 01 June & 31 December 2022 only info@sit.ac.nz 0800 4 0 FEES Enrol now at sit.ac.nz All SIT2LRN distance learning programmes Zero Fees + NOMaterial cost Training in Farm Business Planning Reaps Rewards Victor and Amy Blaikie are recent winners of the Agri-Business Management Award in the 2022 Otago Ballance Farm Environment awards; an essential component behind their success saw Amy complete a diploma quali cation in agribusiness, which in turn, has helped the Blaikies ne-tune how they run their farming business. The couple and their two children live in South Otago on Ben Annand Farm, which has been in the Blaikie family since 1960. In their rst attempt at the awards, the Blaikies suf ciently impressed to achieve the win, with the judging panel noting the hill country farm had bene ted from comprehensive planning to effectively manage its challenging environment. “Decisions are well thought out, recognising risks and challenges as they strive to improve production, water care, and pasture management,” they commented. Completing a Diploma of Agribusiness in 2020 through Southern Institute of Technology’s distance learning faculty, SIT2LRN, Amy said studying farm business planning had proved very worthwhile. It was vital in learning how to set up operations on their farm with clear goals and direction. “I really enjoyed the course and found it very valuable. Relating what I was learning to the farm made it so relevant, practical and useful. The topics we covered included business planning, nance, environmental sustainability, human resources, and health, safety and well-being. I was able to take a lot out of that for our own business planning and nance.” During Amy’s two-and-a-half years of part-time study, the diploma helped bring together the Blaikie’s vision for their farm’s future, by providing opportunities to talk through what they wanted to achieve, followed by putting their plans into action. “It certainly put my husband and I on the same path – while I was studying my papers we would have these conversations about goals and directions. It gave us con dence to go and talk to our accountant, and when I was doing our nancial reports I asked more direct questions - our accountant loved it.” The Blaikies used the same approach with their bank manager who also responded positively to their business planning. “When you’re asking about your debt to asset ratios, it’s empowering to have these open conversations with the people on your business team.” “I think it has given us more clarity with our business team and all those key players in it – we’re all on the same page.” Although each paper she completed was unique and had its own highlights, Amy said her greatest achievement was pulling together all the elements of her learning to produce the nal report, “which basically contained our whole lives... I totally loved it”. Their business team also loved Amy’s report. “Our bank manager took a copy of it, he thought it was fantastic.” It’s helped create a momentum which will assist the Blaikies in implementing their future plans. “Even going ahead, it’s so much easier now to update it and keep it current,” Amy added. For information on SIT Agribusiness programmes through distance learning, call 0800 40 FEES or go to https:// www.sit.ac.nz/Courses/ Agriculture-Horticulture? Further agricultural quali cations can be found at https://www.sit.ac.nz/campus/ Telford
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