The 11 finalists in the 2016 Dairy Trainee of the Year competition begin a three-day study tour today, visiting award-winning farmers, Fonterra Innovation and Massey University's No 4 dairy farm.
The trainees will visit a robotic farm, a goat farm, a raw milk farm and hear from a range of speakers on the state of the dairy industry and also on setting and achieving goals.
The tour will finish in Wellington where the group will join finalists in the New Zealand Share Farmer of the Year and New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year competitions.
The final aspect of their judging, an interview, will take place on Friday before the winners of the three competitions are announced at the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards on Saturday night.
The winners will share about $170,000 in cash and prizes.