Farm Manager of the Year
Who is eligible?
The 2013 New Zealand Farm Manager of the Year competition is open to:
- Dairy Farm Managers who have a written Dairy Farm Manager's employment agreement.
- Contract Milkers whose on farm income is derived from a payment formula based on a 'cents per kilogram of milksolids produced' and have a written contract milking agreement.
Entrants need to ensure they meet all eligibility criteria for this competition which can be found in the 
Conditions of Entry (pdf 267KB).
If after reading the Conditions of Entry you are still unsure if you would be eligible to enter one of our competitions, send an e-mail to: chris@nzdia.org.nz outlining your circumstance. Please include a phone number that you can be contacted on.
Here's how it works
- Fill out an Entry Form on this website after 1st November but before 20th December.
- To complete your entry, we require the permission of the Farm Owner and if applicable, the Farm Employer, which can be done electronically or in printed form.
- When the Farm Owner/Employer’s permission has been received, you will be sent an email with further information about the competition. At this point you will have access to the full Judging Criteria.
- Once you receive your Judging Criteria, the preparation for on-farm judging can begin!
Judging Criteria
Detailed judging criteria will be provided after your entry has been completed. The following is a brief outline of the areas you will be judged on and that an entrant should include in their presentation to the judges.
- Farm Management (inc. Livestock, Pasture & Soils, Farm Safety & Health)
- Environmental and Farm Dairy
- Human Resource Management
- Financial Planning and Management
- Future Aims & Attitudes
- Communication
Judging - Now that's scary!
- Not really, all the judges in the competition are experienced in the field of farming and really just want to know about you and your farming career or business. Many of our judges have entered competitions before and know how it feels to be 'on the other end'.
- You may be surprised to learn that most of what the judges are looking for are the things you do every day in your farming lives! You just need to tell them about it and in return receive their valuable feedback. Take a look at our new video which will give you an insight into judging.
- You are allocated two hours for your on-farm judging. You might think two hours is a long time, but in reality it isn't!
- Former entrants will tell you that it is beneficial to spend some time each week on your preparation for judging. This way, you start to feel more confident of your ability to give a good presentation and to ensure you are well prepared for judging.
- Use the Judging Criteria to work through each section to put together a presentation for the judges.
- Entrants receive written feedback from their judges after the Awards Dinner.
- In May of each year all the regional winners are judged by the national judging team to determine the overall winner and place getters at a national level.
Other information
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