Southland drystock farmer Bernadette Hunt has won the Primary Industries Leadership Award 2020.

Mrs Hunt received the award at the Primary Industries New Zealand Summit in Wellington on Monday (November 23).

The awards recognise and reward the innovative efforts and success of individuals and companies from producer groups around the country.

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“It is absolutely humbling and really lovely to get the recognition,” Mrs Hunt told the Southland App today.

Mrs Hunt is the vice president of the Southland Federated Farmers and is a food producer, community “doer”, and mum. She farms with her husband Alistair.

Mrs Hunt said she felt her award was a tribute to the Southland Federated Farmers team. 

The farming industry was facing big issues at the moment so it gave her confidence knowing she had a strong executive at her back, she said.

She loved working with Federated Farmers, which grew leaders, provided a huge support network for farmers and was supportive of women in farming, she said.

“As a woman, and when I first came in on the board as a younger woman, I never once felt my views were not heard or respected . . . Gender is not a barrier in Federated Farmers or in the sector,” she said.

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Mrs Hunt said the Primary Industries Summit was providing an interesting two days of presentations from experts in the primary sector.

Monday’s programme included talks about trade and the global market while today's programme included climate change, sustainable food production, and environmental challenges and opportunities.

“It is a great conference. It is just the second year it has run. It was designed to bring people together,” she said.

Federated Farmers chief executive Terry Copeland said Mrs Hunt’s award recognised her commitment to advocating for farming, particularly given her efforts to highlight the challenges farmers face nationwide measuring up to the government’s new freshwater regulations.

"Bernadette has the rare combination of having a clear vision of what’s right and wrong, being able to articulate a strong message and bring others on the journey. She absolutely leads by example," Mr Copeland said.

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Other awards:

The Outstanding Contribution award went to Beef and Lamb’s Rob Davison.

The Science and Research Award was won by Plant and Food Research, for the Future Orchard Planting System.

The Team Award went to Bioforce, Avian Empire and Tegel Foods, for Poultry Defender.

The Innovation and Collaboration Award went to Plant and Food Research, for Modular Harvesting System.

The Industry Champion Award was won by Wayne Langford and Siobhan O’Malley for ‘Meat the Need’.

More information on the awards is HERE.