MPO North acknowledges excellence

MPO North has acknowledged several regions for excellence during the organisation’s annual congress and award ceremony on 21 August in Pretoria. The event sponsored by FNB was a great success and saw a record number of participants from the dairy industry. Participants enjoyed, among others, an insightful presentation on land reform by Dr Theo de Jager of Agri SA while Mr Jan van Zyl from FNB gave a talk entitled Outlook for agro-processing. Mr Kenneth Botha of Barnlab gave an overview of precision farming in the Highveld while Dr Paul Burden of Novartis and Mr Justin Frewen of Antrovet shared tips and advice regarding the control of flies and rodents in the dairy, respectively. Branch of the year awards went to the Middle Region – Gauteng, Northern branch – Limpopo, Middelburg – Mpumalanga and Delareyville – North West. Schweizer-Reneke – branch received the North West Merit Award and North West, home of MPO North chairman Mr Johan Strydom, again received the award for MPO North Region of the Year. Prizes were sponsored by Nampak, GWK, Zoetis and Barnlab.

A new MPO North Farmer of the Year competition, which recognises excellence among milk producers in the MPO North region, was introduced at this year’s event. Inputs suppliers will be requested to nominate candidates who qualify in their opinion. Finalists will then be selected from nominees and judged by a panel consisting of, among others, a nutritionist, geneticist, veterinarian, agricultural economist and producer representative from MPO North. The winner will be revealed during the MPO North’s Congress and award ceremony in 2015.