Speaking before the meeting, DairyNZ’s Southland/South Otago Specialist Group officer Nicole Hammond said following the discussion, she organised the meeting in Lumsden for Southland and South Otago farmers, which took place last night.
It was led by DairyNZ’s farm business specialist Robb Macbeth.
Those attending were to discuss the possibility of forming a benchmarking group.
"The farmer said it would be great to be able to compare his on-farm KPIs [key performance indicators] against other irrigated farms.
"There are not that many irrigated dairy farms in Southland.
"It can be quite hard to compare irrigated systems with dryland farms.
"I thought it was a great idea."
She is keen to hear from anyone who was unable to attend last night’s meeting.
Farmers in the proposed group will also have the opportunity to go on the DairyNZ Dairybase.
"At the end of the season we will get together to benchmark against other Southland and South Otago irrigated farms’ financial and production KPIs and also see any opportunities to improve operations.
"Benchmarking is a great way for farmers to measure financial and physical performance."
If anyone is interested in joining the group, Ms Hammond can be contacted through the DairyNZ website or the Facebook page or on nicole.e.hammond@dairynz.co.nz.
