He outlined his journey from farming a traditional sheep and beef property on the lower Waitaki Plains, with a little bit of crop; to focusing on cropping at a recent exit-entry farming seminar in Oamaru.
That journey was not always easy and he acknowledged there were "quite a few bumps in the road".
After realising that he needed to "lift his game", Mr Dennison sought out knowledge. He travelled widely outside his area to learn more, attended field days "all around the place" and joined a discussion group.
Non-arable land was leased to dairy to allow him to concentrate on core business: growing wheat, barley, ryegrass seed and peas. Peas have since been replaced with canola.
Mr Dennison was among a group of farmers who employed a specialist UK consultant for two summers.
Yields were lifted by 30% and soil fertility was also lifted. He invested in risk mitigation - irrigation, a drying system and reliable plant and machinery - and a wheat yield world record was achieved in 2003.
The 12-year dairy lease finished and the Dennisons took on a 50:50 sharemilker who was now in their third season. Next year, they will milk 800 cows.
Leasing was a valuable tool. Leasing out land had allowed them a return on investment while they were developing their operation, while leasing in land now gave them economies of scale for cropping, he said.
He urged people to surround themselves with positive people, seek out mentors, be prepared to share, look outside their patch and "read, research and Google".
They should follow their passion, seek out knowledge, understand what motivated their staff and have fun along the way.
Discussing human resources, Mr Dennison encouraged farmers to look for appropriate values, honesty and a good work ethic; and accept that people were all different, and respect those differences.
They should think about the employee's core competencies and build and train on that base, allow employees to "own" the business and remember that wages and salary were not usually the most important part of the package.