New Crop Of PINZ Award Finalists Named
The seventh annual Primary Industries NZ Awards are a highlight of the two-day PINZ Summit taking place at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre 24 and 25 June.
"With tariff tit-for-tat sparking disruption and uncertainty in export markets, more than ever New Zealand needs the primary sector to be innovative and enterprising," Federated Farmers Chief Executive Terry Copeland says.
"The PINZ Awards celebrate our primary industry movers and shakers - the science and food production teams delivering a market edge for our exported goods, the leaders who go the extra mile.
"Their efforts inspire others and lift the employment prospects and standard of living for fellow Kiwis," Copeland says.
Rural Hero finalists are (the late) Chris Allen, Neil Bateup and Ian Jury.
Allen, who died in an accident on his Ashburton farm last December, gave 14 years' service as an elected Federated Farmers leader, including eight years on the national board.
A champion of rural causes, he steered a pragmatic and balanced approach on environment and water issues, earning respect not just from farmers but from those with opposing views.
Neil Bateup helped set up the Waikato Hauraki Coromandel Rural Support Trust in 2004 and in 2017 became founding chair of the NZ RST. He's given countless hours supporting farmers and rural families facing hard times.
The third Rural Hero finalist is Ian Jury, an 85-year-old who for 20 years has been raising money for the Taranaki rescue helicopter by collecting batteries for recycling.
Four young women selected as Emerging Leader Award finalists illustrate the depth of talent being fostered in our primary industries.
Bridie Virbickas succeeded in her bid for one of the hotly-contested DairyNZ Associate director roles and followed that by joining waste recycling enterprise AgRecovery as a foundation trustee.
A contract milker who has overseen expansion of her employing farm from 270 to 850 cows, she put up her hand to be Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty sharefarmer chair to ensure a voice for the district's young farmers is at the decision-making table.
The role has seen her help out in a number of cases where the relationship between a sharefarmer and farm owner had broken down.
Imogen Brankin has only been with Silver Fern Farms for three years but the On-Farm Sustainability Advisor has organised 60 'Know Your Number' climate change workshops.
She was winner of the 2022 Polson Higgs and Young Farmers Innovation Competition, speaking on the topic "Can Farming Deliver a Sustainable Future for New Zealand", and was part of a team of five who competed in the 2023 IFAMA Global Case Study Competition.
Newly appointed Onions NZ general manager Kazi Talaska has served on the Food and Fibre Youth Council, latterly as chair, and champions the Vegetable Industry Centre of Excellence to support the vegetable industry research pipeline.
Talaska worked with industry partners and growers to obtain $2 million in funding to set up a first-of-its-kind vegetable research farm, in Pukekohe.
The fourth Emerging Leader Award finalist is agricultural sustainability coach Lucy Brown. Through her work with the MPI-funded Integrated Farm Planning project, and in other roles, she's found ways to show farmers sustainability is not just a theoretical concept but something that is practical and achievable.
Molesworth Station manager James (Jim) Ward is up against senior AgResearch scientists Dr Robyn Dynes and David Wheeler for the Champion Award.
For nearly two decades, Ward has been a force on the Federated Farmers High Country committee and the Wilding Pine Network NZ, where he has tirelessly advocated for change, shaped policies, and driven meaningful improvements for New Zealand high-country farmers.
Starting off as farm manager at Molesworth in 2001, Ward has faced and overcome countless challenges to ensure the station remains economically viable through a blend of pastoral farming, conservation, and recreation values - all under the microscope of the public eye.
Wheeler has worked hard to bridge the gap between environmental stewardship and agricultural productivity, shaping and improving the farm management tool Overseer.
Dynes, a Principal Scientist and Farmer Engagement Specialist in AgResearch, has had a highly regarded science career focused on farming systems at the interface between forage science and animal science.
Southland farmer Grant Lightfoot is a finalist for the Food, Beverage and Fibre Producer Award after creating edible and biodegradable bale netting made from jute. It's an environment-friendly alternative to plastic netting, which isn't recyclable and is often ingested by livestock.
The two other contenders in this category are Chia Sisters, who produce a gut health-supporting drink from a golden kiwifruit probiotic, kawakawa and hail-damaged cherries, and New Image International, which exports health and beauty products to millions of people around the world.
The full list of 2025 Primary Industries NZ Award finalists is:
Emerging Leader Award (sponsor Lincoln University)
Bridie Virbickas, Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty Sharemilker Chair
Imogen Brankin, On-Farm Sustainability Advisor, Silver Fern Farms
Kazi Talaska, General Manager, Onions NZ
Lucy Brown, The Whole Story
Champion Award (sponsor BASF)
David Wheeler, Senior Scientist, AgResearch
James (Jim) Ward, Manager Molesworth Station
Dr Robyn Dynes, Principal scientist and farmer engagement specialist, AgResearch
Team & Collaboration Award (sponsor Overseer)
nProve for Beef - online genetics tool, Beef + Lamb New Zealand
Food System Integrity Team, AgResearch, led by Dr Gale Brightwell
An open data sharing ecosystem: Fonterra, Ballance, Ravensdown, and LIC.
Technology Innovation Award (sponsor AsureQuality Kaitiaki Kai)
TEO for Ovitage®, the world's most complete collagen
FAR for Combine Workshops - increasing productivity on arable farms
Alliance Group NZ for Meat Eating Quality (MEQ) technology
Food, Beverage and Fibre Producer Award (sponsor Kotahi)
Chia Sisters
Kiwi Econet - founder, Grant Lightfoot
New Image International
Guardianship & Conservation/Kaitiakitanga Award (sponsor Rabobank)
Pāua Dashboard - Pāua Industry Council
The eDNA for water quality Team - led by Dr Adrian Cookson
Pacificvet, co-founder Kent Deitemeyer
Rural Hero of the Year (sponsor Fern Energy)
Chris Allen (posthumous)
Neil Bateup, Founder, Rural Support Trust
Ian Jury, Taranaki grassroots good sort
Winner to be announced on the night
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Young leaders to step up: president
The election of Canterbury sharemilker Karl Dean to the national dairy chairman role for Federated Farmers will cause Bex Green to step up as North Canterbury's president. Mr Dean, 36, replaced former dairy chairman Richard McIntyre and also takes his position on the national board with Richard Dawkins, 35, replacing Toby Williams to also join the national board. Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford said the two young leaders were stepping up into significant national leadership roles. "While they may be new to our national team, they're by no means new to Federated Farmers. They've held senior leadership roles within our organisation for some time now. Karl and Richard are both highly respected and experienced farmers within their regions, and have worked their way up from the grassroots." Mr Dean was previously the North Canterbury provincial president and vice-chairman of the national dairy council. "It's also been a huge honour to work with Richard McIntyre over the past seven years on the dairy council, and his 12 years of service hasn't gone unnoticed. His leadership has helped shape a strong, positive culture, and I'm committed to carrying that legacy forward." Mr Dawkins, who farms with his wife Jess in the Waihopai Valley near Blenheim, was elected as the organisation's new national meat and wool chairman. He has previously spent five years on the national meat and wool council and two years as Marlborough's vice-president. Mrs Green said the provincial president role had been in her sights for some time and she had just been waiting for the right moment for her family and her farming business. "Dairy farming is my passion, but I'm really excited that as president I'll get to broaden my horizons and come to grips with the issues in meat, wool and arable as well." She contract milks 1000 cows with her husband Blair in Culverden and was the province's vice-president under former president Caroline Amyes. With a third child still a toddler, she stayed as vice-president and took on the province's dairy chairwoman role when Mr Dean took over as president. Mrs Green has also been elected national dairy vice-chairwoman, the position Mr Dean vacated. She was named Federated Farmers 2024 Dairy Advocate of the Year for her leadership on issues such as streamlining a path to work in the dairy sector for immigrants. She was ready to tackle challenges to farmers. "Our North Canterbury sheep and beef farmers have been under huge pressure in recent years. They've had all those existing issues impacting the sector — and then a horrific drought on top of that. With the Federated Farmers 'Save our Sheep' campaign now well under way, my hope is we can bring more local sheep farmers back into the fold and really give them a voice and a platform." With three children under 13, she still finds time for multi-sports as a former Coast to Coast competitor, winning team categories for the past two years.
NZ Herald
24-07-2025
- NZ Herald
Listen to The Country online: Federated Farmers releases rural banking report cards
Today on The Country radio show, host Jamie Mackay catches up with Federated Farmers' new banking spokesman, Mark Hooper, to take a closer look at the Feds' latest survey, which reveals how the biggest rural lenders are performing in the eyes of farmers. On with the show:
Scoop
24-07-2025
- Scoop
Federated Farmers Release Rural Banking Report Cards
A Federated Farmers survey has revealed how the country's biggest rural lenders are performing in the eyes of farmers - ranking the banks from best to worst. "A farmer's relationship with their bank is one of the most important relationships within their business, and for many farmers interest payments will be their single-biggest expense," says Federated Farmers banking spokesperson Mark Hooper. "Farmers, along with politicians and the general public, deserve full transparency of what each of the rural lenders is doing well - and just as importantly, what they're not doing so well. "That's why, for the first time, we've asked farmers to tell us how the banks are stacking up. "We're now releasing these report cards because we want to create more visibility of rural banking issues and competition." Federated Farmers' May banking survey of 681 farmers found Rabobank and ANZ were the top-performing rural banks, sharing first-place on the podium. Rabobank received the highest scores for overall satisfaction, communication quality and overdraft rate. ANZ scored the best farmer ratings for mortgage rates, the level of undue pressure felt by farmers, and mental health scores. Westpac came in at the middle of the pack, scoring well with their mortgage rates and communication. BNZ and ASB were nearly tied in last place, showing they've got some work to do with farmers. Hooper says the banks' CEOs should keep an eye out for a report card coming their way. "The purpose of these report cards isn't to tear down the banks - it's to really help them see what they need to focus on to deliver a better service to Kiwi farmers. "Over the coming weeks we'll be providing each of the banks with a copy of their report card, and some constructive feedback on how they could improve. "We hope this is a helpful process and results in a benefit to both farmers and their lenders." ANZ Mortgage Rate: A+ Overdraft Rate: A Undue Pressure: A+ Comm. Quality: B Mental Health: A+ Overall Satisfaction: A Final Grade: A- Rabobank Mortgage Rate: B Overdraft Rate: A+ Undue Pressure: A Comm. Quality: A+ Mental Health: A Overall Satisfaction: A+ Final Grade: A- Westpac Mortgage Rate: A Overdraft Rate: C Undue Pressure: D Comm. Quality: A Mental Health: B Overall Satisfaction: B Final Grade: C+ BNZ Mortgage Rate: D Overdraft Rate: D Undue Pressure: B Comm. Quality: D Mental Health: D Overall Satisfaction: C Final Grade: C- ASB Mortgage Rate: C Overdraft Rate: B Undue Pressure: C Comm. Quality: C Mental Health: C Overall Satisfaction: D Final Grade: D
