Connecting all dairying women

Catching up in Alexandra are (from left) Dairy Women’s Network Central Otago branch convener...
Catching up in Alexandra are (from left) Dairy Women’s Network Central Otago branch convener Amanda Williams, of Omakau, southern regional hub leader Katrina Thomas, of Wreys Bush, member Andrea Murphy, of Alexandra, and co-convener Emma Stratford, of...

When the decision was made to convert their Southland sheep farm to dairying, Katrina Thomas knew nothing about cows.

Undeterred, she decided to "jump in'' and become regional group convener for the Dairy Women's Network.

That way, she thought, she would learn.

It worked and Ms Thomas has now taken on a bigger role, as southern regional hub leader which incorporates Otago and Southland, as well as the fledgling Central Otago DWN branch.

Membership of DWN had grown "dramatically'' in the South, along with a general nationwide increase, she said.

Central Otago was always "on the radar'' and she bumped into now co-conveners Amanda Williams and Emma Stratford at the DWN conference in Hamilton in May.

Their enthusiasm was "ignited'' and the inaugural lunch was held recently in Alexandra attended by about 10.

The group was keen to meet regularly and also to take "baby steps'', initially getting the DWN name out into the community and letting people know who and what it was all about.

It was also about building relationships with network partners who had representatives in the area, she said.

It might be decided to do some more substantial workshops in the future, if there was demand.

Ms Thomas attributed the rise in membership to the growth of the dairy industry and growth in awareness of DWN.

"We're there to empower women to take on a more leadership role in their businesses and their communities as well.

"Rather than just thinking, ‘I'm just a farmer's wife,' it's empowering them they are far more important, and giving them the necessary tools and connecting them with other like-minded women.''

Many women had the most "incredible'' past lives but they were not ones to "trumpet it out there''.

But they could bring those skills and experience to DWN.

Ms Thomas' own career was in the tourism and travel industry.

Brought up on a sheep farm in Tuatapere, she spent many years working in tourism marketing, including in Los Angeles, working for the New Zealand Tourism Board. She returned to Southland to help support her sister, a solo mother of three when she decided to do a course at SIT.

She met her sheep farmer husband James Dixon and, in 2011, the couple converted from sheep to dairy.

She had been involved with Plunket and other groups - "the obvious things you do when in a rural community'' - and took over as DWN regional group convener that same year as the conversion.

"I didn't know anything about cows, let alone about milking sheds. I had no idea at all about this terminology and jargon.''

But she did know how to organise events, get people together and network, and understood marketing.

Being part of DWN made women realise they were not alone.

It could be quite an isolating feeling, for women particularly if they were in a new community and did not have a support network around them.

Times were also tough in the dairy industry at the moment but women were "social creatures'' and that was why there were the likes of Dairy Dates with coffee and cake.

"They are an informal get-together. They can just come in their gumboots if they want . . and it's not all about cows and farming,'' she said.

Those informal get-togethers were being held at Tuatapere tomorrow and Gorge Rd and at Gore next Monday.

Calf rearing workshops were being held at Glenavy on July 5, Balclutha on July 6, Gore on July 7 and Invercargill on July 8.

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