We’ve increased the number of B+LNZ Extension Managers in the South Island to four and there are few other new faces around the country. It’s part of our ongoing commitment to effective coverage and support to farmers across New Zealand.
Last year we reviewed our priorities and delivery and what that meant in terms of how we support farmers on the ground. The need for support in extension delivery has increased in recent years, with growing need for farmer engagement and policy engagement.
As a result, we identified key areas where extra staff were required to manage workloads and maintain coverage.
South Island General Manager John Ladley says B+LNZ is delighted to welcome the new people – two in the South Island and three in the North Island – bringing additional energy and enthusiasm. The new staff provide additional support to both the extension programme and to B+LNZ Economic Service activity.
“Probably the biggest change farmers will see is in the central South Island, where we’ve increased the number of areas our extension managers cover and redrawn the area boundaries. Dean Sinnamon is the extension manager for the newly created Central South Island (South) area.
“That said, the change is really just about who farmers see as the friendly face of their weekly e-diary newsletter in that area, and who they’ll see at local events, COVID-19 permitting. Farmer Council areas and B+LNZ electoral districts remain unchanged, as does our commitment to providing the best support to farmers that we can.”
The new CSI (South) area includes Dunedin City, Central Otago, Queenstown Lakes, Waitaki and South Westland.
We’ll continue to review our coverage and support against our assessment of what farmers need, on an ongoing basis.
If you’re not sure who your local extension manager is or how to contact them, check out the details at the top of your e-diary newsletter.
You can sign up for e-diary newsletters (including for additional regions to the one you live in) by logging in to (or creating) a B+LNZ online account at www.beeflambnz.com/user – on the dashboard go to ‘Account settings’ and select your preferred e-diary regions under the ‘My subscriptions’ tab