Four food and fibre sector leaders have been awarded 2024 Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarships.
The Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarship is one of the most valued awards in New Zealand’s primary sector. It is a highly regarded rural leadership programme with a global focus. It is designed to fast-track the professional development of talented people from across our Food and Fibre Sector. Farming scholarship that drives insight and foresight to keep NZ at the global forefront of food and fibre.
Each year up to five scholarships are awarded to bold, curious, innovative, perceptive and community-minded individuals from backgrounds ranging from farming, industry bodies, catchment groups, agricultural research, food and fibre innovations hubs.
Scholarship candidates should desire to hold positions of greater influence in their field and seek to give back to their industries and rural communities. Receiving a Nuffield Farming Scholarship is the beginning of a unique learning experience.
New Zealand’s food and fibre producers stay competitive even with their logistical challenges, high land values and without the subsidies available to farmers elsewhere in the world. Yet, despite New Zealand’s achievements, there’s always a new path ahead and new challenges to be overcome – the Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarship plays a significant role equipping leaders in our Food and Fibre Sector for the journey ahead.
Nuffield Scholarships equip primary sector leaders for a fast-changing world:
Nuffield is part of an international food and fibre network promoting global vision, leadership and innovation. It provides scholars with access to world-class leaders in the best primary industries production, management and marketing systems. Scholarship recipients take time away from their work to travel, observe, immerse, reflect, and learn about global agricultural practices and their operating contexts.
They gain new insights and ideas to bring back to New Zealand to positively influence decisions that affect the Food and Fibre Sector – and our rural communities. The Scholarship develops leaders for today’s fast-changing Food and Fibre Sector. It is designed for those who are engaged, motivated and committed to solving old and emerging challenges. Nuffield Scholars make change happen.
Nuffield Scholars come from a range of backgrounds from hands-on farming in agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, aquaculture, seafood, apiculture and forestry, through to research, regulatory, and agri-professionals.
Four food and fibre sector leaders have been awarded 2024 Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarships:
The Nuffield Awards Ceremony was hosted by Minister O’Connor at the Grand Hall in Parliament, Wellington last night, where the four 2024 Scholars were announced as:
Carlos Bagrie – An Otago based Sheep and Beef, Arable, Vegetable Grower/Farmer.
Rachel Baker – Rachel is a Central Hawke’s Bay based Agri-investments Portfolio Manager, and Dairy Farmer.
Jenna Smith – A Waikato based Māori Agribusiness CEO, and Dairy Farmer.
Peter Templeton – A Southland based fifth generation Dairy Farmer.
Kate Scott, Chair, New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust, acknowledged Minister O’Connor’s tenure and long-standing support of Nuffield. Kate spoke about a global and national context of relentless change, saying that the challenges our sector faces within this context require high-performing leaders for the teams they serve.
“Our leaders need to be more adaptive than ever before, creating healthy and diverse, high-performing environments that allow teams to acquire the skills and build the resilience they need to thrive in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world”, said Kate Scott.
