The annual Dairy Women of the Year Award, run as part of RABDF’s Women in Dairy initiative, has announced its three finalists for this year’s competition with the winner announcement set to take place at the Women in Dairy Conference on Wednesday 27 September.

Presented to someone who demonstrates the Women in Dairy core values – connect, share, inspire – in their everyday activity, the award recognises the contribution of individuals to the sector.

As ever, the award attracted some top-level nominations from a diverse variety of women working in the dairy sector says Women in Dairy manager, Romany Marshall.

“It’s clear to see from the nominations we receive just how many women are going above and beyond for the benefit of others in the sector and this year’s finalists are no exception.”

Sarah Devon who is an area field manager for NMR, a regular milker on a dairy herd of 135 and a volunteer facilitator for Devon Women in Dairy, was nominated because of her drive for positive change and passion for helping and supporting others around her.

From a non-farming background Sarah has earnt her role by sheer determination, standing resolute in the face of adversity, starting out as volunteer help on-farm, securing a receptionist job at a vets to becoming a vet tech and most recently taking up a permanent position at milk recording company NMR. Self-confessed at never being content with where she is, Sarah advocates dairy farming in everything she does, sharing her positive outlooks on social media, to ensure her messages reach and resonate with as many people as possible.

A fourth-generation beef farmer, finalist Hannah Rose would openly admit her love for dairy has only evolved over recent years. After leaving the industry and then returning, once realising her passion was with farming, Hannah now finds herself in a unique role – herd manager on a prison farm. Her position allows her to rehabilitate prisoners through her knowledge of dairying, demonstrating on a day-to-day basis the benefits of working with animals.

Whilst being a woman puts her in the minority where she works, Hannah has witnessed that whilst it has its difficulties it also comes with its benefits with prisoners taking instruction from her and relating to the nurture and care she shows the cows and calves. Hannah’s positive farming messages are shared with her 10k-strong Instagram following, where she wants to be recognised as an advocate for the industry and helping those looking to break into the sector.

Emma Hunt is another finalist who does not derive from a farming background. Finding her pathway into the industry through young farmers the first time Emma saw a cow properly was during a stockjudging competition. Fast forward some hard-earned work experience and a job on a mixed estate predominantly looking after dairy youngstock, Emma has set up her own dairy, with her micro-herd now housed on a 35 acre, tenancy, council starter farm.

Knowing how difficult her pathway to dairying was, Emma welcomes work experience students to her farm, and enjoys educating the wider public by hosting open days – including Open Farm Sunday. Whilst she hit many hurdles surrounding sexism, she now uses her experience as a platform to ensure those who want to be a part of the industry take every opportunity that comes their way, opening doors to as many people as possible.

Tickets for the conference can be purchased at www.womenindairy.co.uk with concessions in place for Women in Dairy members. More information on the day, including speakers, can also be found online.