| 65 nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Todd & Renee Halliday Todd and Renee Halliday. Way of giving back to the industry A year on from winning the 2022 Central Plateau Share Farmer of the Year award, Todd and Renee Halliday are still fully immersed in the Dairy Industry Awards as they remain on the sponsorship committee, making best use of all the networking they have done in the past two years. Todd says while he and Renee are glad to be able to give back to the industry, especially after all the support they received during their own entry process into the awards, the sponsorship committee had a hard task leading up to the 2023 Dairy Industry Awards in March. “It’s a hard climate for fundraising at the moment,” he says. “But some good businesses are really on board with the awards. It’s something we really have to keep doing. If we lost these awards there would be a big hole in the industry. How else would we celebrate our successes and the young farmers coming through?” Todd and Renee had to sell the value of the awards to potential sponsors. Since Covid, people have got used to not putting themselves out there. “We were trying to sell the value of the awards to the sponsors while entrants to the competition were dropping away. There are some great sponsors who are definitely on board with the competition, many who have been sponsoring for 20 to 30 years, and they are all really positive. Now we’re trying to reach this next generation of farmers, got them involved in the awards, and sell the value and benefit to them.” It was encouraging to see the Central Plateau area had the highest number of entrants out of the 12 different regions for the Dairy Trainee of the Year award in 2023, even though some of those other regions have a higher number of farms than the Central Plateau. The Dairy Manager of the Year award had a good number of entrants, but Todd says entrants to the Share Farmer of the Year award were down. “These farmers are already very busy behind the farm gate, and there is a lot of work involved in entering the awards. They say it’s too much work and they haven’t got time, but for those that make the time like we did, they will reap the rewards.” As well as an array of fabulous prizes provided by award sponsors, the actual entry process can really help farmers with their businesses. Todd and Renee joined DairyBase in the lead up to winning their awards, which helped them to analyse their farm system and its financial and physical performance. “The awards have been great for us. We’ve been able to set goals together and work on our business, and we’ve done a lot of good networking along the way.” Todd says he and Renee will be on the sponsorKelly Deeks AGRICULTURAL CONTRACTORS Miers Contractors(1995) Ltd • Harvesting • Cultivation • Supplements for sale & supply • Undersowing (all pastures & crops) • Earth moving • Truck cartage • Balage & Hay • Effluent Management 198 Butcher Road, RD2, Reporoa Gordy 021 593 163 | Reece 021 240 5090 | Mark 021 948 472 E mierscontractors@farmside.co.nz 0800 008 722 07 378 1814 | www.tauporefrigeration.co.nz PROVIDINGTHE BEST POSSIBLE SOLUTION FOR OUR CUSTOMERS COOLING, HEATING & PERISHABLE GOODS REQUIREMENTS ship committee for many years going forward, because the networking contacts they have made are too valuable to give up. As a young business-owning couple with four young children, the Hallidays have a lot on their plate already, and they’re making sure they make time for themselves and their kids as well.
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