24 minute read
Women in agribusiness – Tania Burrows
Lessons in leadership
By Cheyenne Nicholson
A Canterbury dairy farmer found her natural calling for leadership through teaching. Now, she’s on a mission to help farmers around the country tap into their leadership potential by focusing on wellness and communication.
Growing up on her parents’ dairy goat farm on the Hauraki Plains, Tania Burrows always wanted to be a teacher. She wanted to make an impact on the world and help grow the next generation, a sentiment that would follow her into her career as a farmer and now leadership coach.
“I have a real passion for helping people grow, and that began back when I decided I wanted to be a teacher. Looking back now, I wish I had had more of an interest in farming because, through my dairying career, I’ve come to see how amazing it is. But I loved being a teacher and it’s put me on the path I’m on now,” Burrows says.
After completing her early childhood qualifications, she took up teaching positions in Rotorua and Tauranga and during her career, she quickly discovered her natural ability as a leader. She worked her way into management roles, at one point being responsible for up to 150 children, their families and a team of seven teaching staff.
“I got the opportunity to do various leadership courses as part of professional development, and I found myself really enjoying it. It’s not something I thought I would enjoy, but I began to realise that I could have a bigger impact on the children and their families by being in those leadership roles,” she says.
During her teaching years, she met her now-husband Johno, who also came from a dairy farming background. The couple made the big move from North Island to South Island and officially started their dairying careers together in 2011. Today they have three children and are lower order sharemilkers farming 1000 head of stock between their dairy farm in Mid Canterbury and runoff block and employ up to seven staff each season.
In the early days of their farming careers, she continued teaching and juggled farming, new babies, and teaching positions for a few years. After their third daughter was born, the couple decided it was more beneficial for her to transition to working on the farm fulltime.
“It was tough driving backwards and
Tania Burrows says leadership coaching is relatively new, so she is still working on what will add value for farmers.
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Tania Burrows
forwards, getting the kids where they needed to be and looking after the business administration and recruitment part of our farm business. I had to be realistic about my time,” she says.
“Johno and I have complementary skills, which means we work really well together. He’s more of the grassroots farming side of things while I look after the human resources side of things as that’s where my passion lies – working with people and bringing teams together.”
She continued to help out with early childhood teaching in her local community, supporting a small preschool in Waitaki Valley and home-based care network to put her skills to good use. During this time, she joined the Dairy Women’s Network (DWN). She was a regular attendee at learning modules and wasn’t afraid to get stuck in and help run several events like Gumboots to Glamour evening and the ‘There’s more to life than ice cream’ event.
In 2020, she won the inaugural Regional Leader of the Year award, recognising grassroots dairy farming leadership efforts from throughout the country. She received many glowing recommendations for the award from fellow DWN members, with her commitment to supporting her local community and the wider dairy community highlighted.
Amongst the whirlwind of winning the Regional Leader of the Year award and the daily ups and downs of farming, she also completed her certification to be a wellness and leadership coach through the International Coaching Federation, which helped her start her business.
“I had already studied a lot of psychology when I was learning to teach and had done leadership development through my teaching roles, so I felt like I had good foundations for the course. I had a real interest in the leadership space and saw some opportunity to put this training to good use within the primary sector,” she says.
Since completing her certification, she has dabbled in leadership coaching, helping farmers in particular to put together the foundations they need to become impactful leaders at a grassroots farming level.
While most farmers don’t think of themselves as leaders and often didn’t start a farming career to be a leader, she says that increasingly they are and have to be.
“Some of what I do is about building that perception of farmers being a leader and figuring out what that means for them, not just in the traditional sense. A lot of professions get exposure to leadership development programmes or mentoring as they progress in their profession. But with farming, the focus is on livestock and pasture,” she says.
“It is more collaborative than it used to be, and even if you only have a few staff on the farm, you’re still a leader and need
Continued page 34
Tania and husband Johno run Alpine dairies and are sharemilkers on a 1000-cow farm at Valetta in Mid Canterbury. Tania and Johno walking the Queen Charlotte track.
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Tania balances the farm, family and her role at the Dairy Women’s Network with her new leadership coaching business. Tania out on the farm feeding this season’s calves.
Tania has a passion for helping people learn and says her teaching background has put her on the path she is now on.
to be able to lead effectively to keep your business thriving and growing.”
With an increasing demand for workers in the primary sector, it’s never been more important for farmers to excel in this area if they are to attract and retain good staff. It’s something she and Johno have seen first-hand on their own farm.
She has decided to put a more focused effort into her leadership coaching business and has been hard at work to put everything together, from websites, marketing and resources.
“Leadership coaching, certainly for farmers, is pretty new, and I’m still in that process of figuring out what is going to add value and what they actually need out of coaching. It feels like quite a big challenge right now, so I’m feeling my way through it and figuring out the right approach to take,” she says.
For 2022 she is looking to bring together a small group of farmers for focused leadership coaching that will support them as they grow through or begin their leadership as assistant managers through to contract milkers or sharemilkers.
“My starting point is focusing on wellness as that is the basis of everything. From there, it’s based on a lot of positive psychology and emotional intelligence. Through our conversations, they will build or grow a level of self-awareness and emotional intelligence that allows them to make better leadership decisions about how they approach situations, the language they use to communicate and so on, ” she says.
In these early stages of her business, she’s utilising the networks she’s created through DWN and her farming community to help her along the way. Like many fellow business owners, she is doing plenty of learning along the way.
With an exciting new business just starting to get its legs, a busy farm business and three children, life can at times be hectic in the Burrows household. Still, she says she’s lucky and grateful for the support of her husband and the wider community.
“Like everyone, we have our challenges. It’s about prioritising things. For me, I like to prioritise my own wellness because for me, that is the foundation that enables everything else in life to work,” she says.
“I have an amazing family and have a great support network around me who are helping me in my goal to help other farmers.” n
Tania Burrows
NZDIA rework pays off
By Gerald Piddock
Entry numbers for the Dairy Trainee category at the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) have jumped for 2022, up 60% from the previous year.
The category received 170 entries, including 27 in the Canterbury region, 22 in Waikato and 21 in Southland/ Otago.
Nationally, 112 entries were received in the Dairy Manager category and 82 entered Share Farmer of the Year.
NZDIA general manager Robin Congdon says a total of 364 entries were received for the awards.
“It’s a great result, considering the impact covid lockdown had on entry events, and we are really thrilled with the response,” Congdon says.
“Refreshing the Dairy Trainee and Dairy Manager entry criteria and judging process was definitely the right move as we have seen an increase overall in entry numbers, with entrants excited about the changes.”
The numbers ensure strong categories will run in each of the 11 regions, which he says was great for the entrants and the programme.
Waikato region received the highest number of entries, with 60 in total. Canterbury followed closely with 51 entries, while Central Plateau, Southland/ Otago, Bay of Plenty and Manawatū received 38, 37, 36 and 30 entries respectively.
“Previous Dairy Industry Award winners continue to make an impact within the dairy industry and many are today’s leaders,” he says.
“All entrants can give themselves a
huge pat on the back as they’ve taken an important step in enhancing their career and farm business just by entering the awards.”
Judging (is underway) for the 11 regional categories, with winners announced at dinners throughout the country in March,” he says.
The 33 winners of those categories will then progress through to the national finals in Christchurch in May. n
Entries for the 2022 Dairy Trainee of the Year award have increased by 60%. The 2021 Dairy Trainee of the Year was won by Ruth Connolly from Waikato, who judges described as a polished and engaging person.
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Big guns collab for greater good
By Tony Benny
The $14 million project to transform New Zealand’s agritech sector into a globally competitive ecosystem is on track, Callaghan Innovation group manager of agrifood Simon Yarrow, who’s leading the initiative, says.
The Government is committed to growing the agritech sector, which already earns around $1.4m in exports annually, and Callaghan Innovation, AgriTech New Zealand and a variety of government agencies are collaborating on the project.
“It’s all about commercial outcomes. Primary sector manufacturing, biotech and digital-based technology companies are trying to deliver things like yield efficiency, profitability and increasing sustainability and quality,” Yarrow said during a recent online seminar.
“The tagline, ‘New Zealand agritech, good for New Zealand and great for the world’, really captures what we’re trying to achieve, which is both to help New Zealand agriculture and grow the sector globally for New Zealand.”
Callaghan has broken NZ agritech down into six different segments: three “foundation” sectors – farm and pasture, horticulture and forestry; and three emerging areas – “cleantech” (around climate change and carbon technology management), hemp and medicinal cannabis, and aquaculture.
“We’re interacting with tech companies, producer companies, R&D organisations, investors, government agencies and industry organisations so we can develop better technology and services for those customers and stakeholders,” he says.
Over the past six months, a range of services have been developed to address specific needs, such as how to find the right funding and advice, finding the right partners to test new technology, how to scale-up from a local marketfocused business to a global player and how to be “future-ready”.
The multi-million dollar project to transform the agritech sector into a global competitor is on track.
“We’ve observed the level of future insight skills over five years, interacting and trialling different initiatives, and it’s fair to say we believe New Zealand agritech sector is not future-focused enough,” Callaghan agritech innovation advisor Shane Dooley says.
“We know future-prepared firms outperform the average by a considerable amount,” he says, citing a European longitudinal study that shows that conclusively.
He says, particularly since 2020, that following trends is a very poor way to predict the future and that the trick is to spot signals instead.
“Successfully preparing for the future actually happens by identifying and having the discipline of looking for signals, being able to pick them out from what you see and essentially accepting that anything can be different in the future,” he says.
As an example, he tells the story of American agritech company Greentech Robotics.
“The chief executive knew the market for lettuce growing in California really well and he picked up on what is now not such a subtle signal of a labour shortage for weeding lettuce, and picked up on the experience of growers with rising labour costs and falling labour supply to pick and weed lettuce all year round,” he explains.
The chief executive also picked up on consumers’ changing attitudes to sprays and herbicides.
“They’ve now developed a really cool weeding robot that they deploy in the US. It’s a great example of really scanning the horizon for signals,” he says.
AgriTech NZ chief executive Brendan O’Connell says the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan is different in that it’s a “whole of government” project with multiple agencies, including MPI, MBIE, Callaghan Innovation and the Ministry for the Environment, working together.
“I think it’s fair to say that different agencies have different parameters at different times and different reporting structures, so to actually have a conscious effort to bring them together is really quite unique,” O’Connell says.
One of the key areas being focused on is data interoperability and O’Connell believes the voice of the agritech sector is now being heard on this and other topics of importance to primary industry.
“Farmer groups like Federated Farmers, levy groups, DairyNZ and others have been involved in those conversations. It’s through the role of AgriTech New Zealand, but also the ITP as an initiative, that the voice of agritech is now being heard when it comes to digital foundations and role of data with agritech, regulations and innovations,” he says.
And, he is sure that NZ is well placed to be a significant player globally in agritech.
“Agritech is a sector that is thriving globally, a sector for which New Zealand has a good set of capabilities, a reputation that is known in some quarters and is well-received. We know the level of investment in agritech around the world is growing significantly and continues to be a significant investment class for reasons of feeding and protecting our planet.” n
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Turn digi-ag into profit
Farmers are using digital tools, which are helping them to make management decisions.
By Samantha Tennent
More and more technology is being developed to help farmers change the way they produce food.
The rapid pace of the digital revolution can be daunting. Concerns over data security and the endless options available can be overwhelming for many farmers and they end up putting it in the ‘too hard’ basket.
But digital developments create extensive opportunities for agriculture and as the wide-reaching benefits are being recognised across a growing number of farm businesses, the New Zealand agricultural sector sits on the cusp of an era-defining change in the way food and fibre is produced.
“There’s no doubt digital agriculture has made the transition from a future concept to being effectively used by producers to make management decisions that are yielding real economic and sustainability outcomes,” John Deere Australia and NZ precision agriculture manager Benji Blevin says.
“But it’s important we deliver simpleto-use packages of technology to help farmers to adopt ag tech in a time and resource-effective way.
“So we have created easy-to-use and relevant resources for farmers that enable them to either begin their digital ag journey or develop knowledge to extract even more value and performance from digital technology.”
The company has invested in robust data systems with cybersecurity protocols, which are underpinned by data privacy policies about how they collect and use data in their user agreements.
“To us, it is critical that customers control their own data and make the decisions about who can access it,” Blevin says.
For farmers who are keen to harness the digital ecosystem, he has a few key tips to help turn on-farm data into a powerful decision-making tool.
Know what you want to achieve
Data collection can be overwhelming, so he urges farmers not to “collect data for data’s sake”.
“Instead, ask yourself: ‘What do I want to get out of collecting this information? What do I need to put in place to get those results?’” he says.
“Once you’ve identified your goals, take a structured approach to digital agriculture so it is possible to measure and strive for improvement.”
Get the set up right
Just as you would not take your machine into the field without it being set up correctly, it is worth investing time in properly setting up your digital ecosystem.
“It is important to take the time to set up your digital assets, so you are collecting the right information for your needs,” he says.
“Setting up boundaries, guidance lines, chemicals, varieties and any other key inputs before heading into the paddock, will save time and enable more accurate data collection, which in turn means it’s usable and actionable.”
Automate your data collection
Once data collection has been robustly set up, this process can be automated so that information is consistently gathered and is ready for analysis.
“With automation, you remove and simplify the touchpoints required to collect and transfer data from the machine to the operations centre,” he says.
“Your data is updated to the cloud every 30 seconds, while you focus on the work in the paddock.”
Understand your data
Now that you know what you want to achieve and have the right digital setup, which is automatically collected and synced to your account.
The next step is understanding that data, using it to drive decisions and applying them on-farm to achieve efficiency and profitability gains.
“If you can identify that a field has 20% yield variability, you know that there’s money to be made there, and you can focus on it,” he says.
“Another way to extract even more value is to bring in a specialised skillset, such as your agronomist, farm advisor or financial advisor, and allow them to access and analyse information such as crop records to make strategic recommendations. “This can further support growers in taking full advantage of the decisionmaking opportunities of digital agriculture.” n
Strategic agtech partnerships
By Sonita Chandar
Agritech leaders from New Zealand and Israel will come together to share insights and innovations at a joint online summit this month.
Both countries are renowned for their inventiveness and tenacity when it comes to developing solutions for food production systems. Yet each country possesses its own distinct agritechecosystem that’s shaped through unique environmental and economic challenges and knowledge frameworks.
Agritech leaders and stakeholders in both countries have a lot to learn from each other; the potential to find common ground in supporting rising global market demand is huge.
The summit will feature several keynote speakers and panel discussions over two days. Aligned for international timezones, the NZ-Israel AgriTech Summit will explore opportunities for future cooperation and collaboration, while showcasing technologies, applications and test cases from both countries for a mutually beneficial partnership.
Keynote speaker John Roche, the Ministry for Primary Industries chief science advisor, says this partnership could open up opportunities for counter-seasonal experiments in areas of common interest, collaboration on global challenges, shared expertise and resources to develop our innovation and commercialisation and additional funding avenues.
“Both NZ and Israel are recognised innovators in agriculture – what we call in New Zealand the No 8 wire mentality,” Roche says.
“For nearly 100 years, farmers and scientists have worked closely together to develop some of the most biophysically efficient agricultural and horticultural systems in the world.
“Israel, similarly, is a world-renowned hub of innovation, developing highly efficient food production systems through engineering, agronomy and animal production. “Innovation in agricultural technology is of significant interest in NZ as we challenge ourselves to meet the environmental sustainability and productivity challenges of the 21st Century.
“The New Zealand-Israel AgriTech Summit is a great opportunity for us to collaborate with and learn from a global leader in this space. Israel has extensive expertise in dryland farming and horticultural crops and, as a country, is a pioneer in water efficient irrigation systems and has developed state-ofthe-art desalination technologies and efficient greenhouse technologies.”
Other keynote speakers include, among others, Australia-based Israel trade commissioner Shai Zarivatch; Israeli ambassador to NZ Ran Yaakoby; Kenneth Irons from Precision Farming; and head of AgriFood Tech and circular economy advisory at KPMG, Ben van Delden. n
The All-rounder
Ministry for Primary Industries chief science advisor John Roche says the New Zealand-Israel AgriTech Summit is a great opportunity for us to collaborate with and learn from a global leader in this space.
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LIC has developed an ear sensor to monitor animal health and performance, which delivers crucial information to help farmers manage their herds.
Fitbits and other health monitoring devices have been used by people for years.
Now similar technology is being used in dairy herds across the country.
Cow wearables, such as ear sensors and collars, are increasingly being used on New Zealand dairy farms to help monitor and manage animal performance, health and fertility.
Manawatū dairy farmer Jared Whittfield has been using CowManager’s ear sensor technology since the start of May to monitor his herd.
Although the technology looks like a standard ear tag, it delivers key insights to farmers 24/7 to bring them one step closer to their cows.
“One of the main benefits of these ear tags is early detection of problems. You receive a health alert when a cow isn’t her usual self, and from there you can quickly diagnose the problem,” Whittfield says.
“It’s great from a herd productivity perspective because it means you’re picking up issues much earlier, or even identifying issues that might never have been picked up.”
Whittfield, who milks 1000 cows on his 250ha farm in Moutoa in the Manawatū region, says the technology helps him maintain a level of connection to his cows despite his large herd size.
“Not only can you monitor individual cows, but you can also get a sense of how your herd is performing overall by looking at cows at different ages and stages of lactation and identifying whether there are any trends,” he says.
LIC has recently upgraded its cloudbased herd management system, MINDA, to help farmers unlock more value from cow wearable devices and further support the ‘connected cow’ future of the NZ dairy industry.
The new application will enable valuable data captured from cow wearable devices to join the rest of the animal’s records in MINDA to provide farmers with a one-stop-shop for their animal data.
Before the application was available, Whittfield was having to do a daily transfer of data.
“The fact that these tags are now able to link up with MINDA means there’s no double handling of data, which saves time on farm and ensures that you have access to all the data you need in one centralised place,” he says.
Enabling data flow between MINDA, which is used by 10,500 dairy farmers, and third-party cow wearable devices has been hotly requested by farmers, LIC’s general manager of NZ markets Malcolm Ellis said.
“We are seeing an increased uptake in cow wearable technology from our farmers so it’s great to now be able to offer them more value from their investment with improved access to data and insights,” Ellis says.
Cow wearable devices from CowManager, Datamars and Allflex (via Protrack) can now integrate with MINDA, with more expected to get on board soon, including Afimilk and GEA Cow Scout.
He says data is key to driving the next wave of productivity and sustainability improvements for the industry.
“In this era of a stabilising cow population and increased environmental and regulatory considerations, there has never been a more important time for farmers to be focused on improving the quality of cows in their herd. Knowing more about your cows and having access to these insights to make informed herd management decisions is a key driver,” he says.
Ellis says everything LIC is doing in the technology space is focused on deepening farmers’ connection to their cows.
“Tech is the future for many industries, but much of the value lies in integration. We’ll continue to investigate opportunities where we can partner with others in the tech sector to deliver to farmers’ needs and unlock more value for our farmers.” n
Jared Whittfield milks 1000 cows on his 250ha farm in Moutoa and says the technology helps him maintain a level of connection to his cows despite his large herd size. Cow wearable devices – like the orange CowManager ear tags – are deepening the connection between farmers and their cows.
