Irish National Stud Scholarship

CEO’s Report

JUSTINE SCLATER

Covid disruptions continued to affect the NZTBA throughout 2021-22 and there is no doubt it has had an impact on our Branches and their social interactions and ability to engage, therefore from the NZTBA we made a concerted effort to communicate on a weekly basis via our NZTBA weekly update and share stories and information through our social media platforms. I hope that this ensured that you all feel well informed and up to date with industry news, relevant issues, breeding success and news. The NZTBA council have also changed the way they interact and Zoom continues to play a big role in our council meetings on a more regular basis and addressing matters as they arise. Below I have tried to give you a brief overview of some of our key areas of focus.

Mental Health and Well-Being

As you are all aware the NZTBA recognised the need for awareness around Mental Health and Well-being (MHWB) within our breeding community, this became apparent as a result of several of our industry peers taking their own lives and the impacts this has had on many of us. Therefore over the past 12 months our NZTBA office has been working on a MHWB initiative and with greater collaboration, strategic direction, and with an open dialogue we hope to set a pathway for the breeding community that addresses many of the issues and challenges we face around the well-being of our people. We acknowledge that the challenges of maintaining a work life balance and the blurred lines it can bring between a job caring for thoroughbreds, the highs and lows, seasonal demands and maintaining a home life can be problematic for many of our participants. We are grateful that the Waikato Branch offered to assist our office to implement Mental Health and Well-being initiatives with funds raised from their auction held in conjunction with the AGrowQuip National Awards Dinner. The generosity of our industry and belief in what we were setting out to achieve became apparent and the funds raised exceeded all of our expectations. Therefore we felt strongly the need for a bespoke program and we have begun “Starting the Conversation” workshops that are relatable and specifically designed for our participants around the pressures that our participants can feel within our industry and provide them with the tools to recognise and provide the necessary channels of support. To date our workshop facilitators Amie Best and Helen Bingham having taken this concept on farm and have facilitated with 12 groups, with over 220 people taking part – something we are very proud of and are determined to continue to drive and work towards the next steps.

Events

Finally we were able to host and enjoy social events after a year of postponements and cancellations. What a night we had with our inaugural AGrowQuip National Breeding Awards! It took a massive effort and a great deal of tenacity from our Waikato Branch committee to ensure our National Awards concept that we tried to implement unsuccessfully for over two years finally came to fruition and we celebrated our New Zealand breeding industry successes. I thank everyone involved in making this event possible and appreciate all the time and effort that went into it and the generosity of our sponsors. The NZTBA hosted another dinner over the gavelhouse.com Stallion Parade Weekend at the Boatshed in Karapiro to ensure those breeders in the 2020-21 season who missed their night of recognition to acknowledge their Group One successes were acknowledged and received their awards.

Primary Industry Recognition

One of our goals has been to ensure the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeding industry is recognised as a primary industry amongst other agricultural industries. This is important as we are a contributor to the rural economy and often do not see this taken into account when we are lobbying on behalf of thoroughbred breeders. To assist this we have joined a partnership with Federated Farmers to ensure we are represented on policy changes that could impact our livelihoods. This partnership has given members of the NZTBA membership access to Federated Farmers Membership, discounted Contracts and Agreements, free legal and employment advice and most importantly support and advocacy as a rural land user.