New Venue For 2012 South Island Dairy Event
NEW ZEALAND - The South Island Dairy Event (SIDE) is going to Otago for the first time in its 14 year history.
30 November 2011
2 minute read
SIDE Chairman and Southland dairy farmer David Holdaway, says the annual event which normally alternates between Canterbury and Southland each June, was scheduled to be held at Stadium Southland in 2012.
“The rebuild of Stadium Southland following the snow damage of 2010 is taking longer than anticipated and we decided to shift the event to the University of Otago in Dunedin. This is a great opportunity for SIDE in the Otago region and makes it easy for local dairy farmers to experience the three day event without travelling to Canterbury or Southland”, says Mr Holdaway.
The theme for the 2012 event is ‘people perception pride’. Milton dairy farmer, Brangka Munan, is leading the event committee for 2012 and says these were three recurring themes that kept cropping up as the committee brainstormed the programme of workshops for 2012.
“People are such an important part of the dairy industry. Ask any dairy farmer what the toughest part of the business is to get right and the answer most times will be ‘managing people’. Cows and grass is the easy part,” says Mr Munan.
“And perception - is dairying the job of last resort or the preferred career choice for our young school leavers? Perception really is reality and as dairy farmers we need to understand what practical things we can do to address the sometimes less-than-positive perceptions of dairying in the wider community.”
He says the third aspect of the theme, pride, is something dairy farmers feel is in short supply in dairy today.
“Maybe it’s just a part of the Kiwi psyche, but we’re not good at broadcasting our successes. Dairying is a Kiwi success story but it seems that if it doesn’t involve a ball of some sort, we don’t like making a big deal about it. We need to tell our fellow New Zealanders about our All Blacks in gumboots!”
SIDE is a joint venture between South Island dairy farmers, Lincoln University and DairyNZ. SIDE 2012 will be held in the St David Complex, Otago University, Dunedin on 25 - 27 June 2012.
Registration opens in March 2012. Programme details and further information will be posted on side.org.nz as it is confirmed. Papers from previous events and information about other SIDE activities are also available online.
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