Five agriculture students have spent time in the central North Island finding out about the incredible range of education and job opportunities available to them.
Rachel Hatfield, Blake Shepherd, Fatima Imran, Jacob Speight and Kaarthik Dangwal were accompanied by Head of Careers Kubi Witten-Hannah and Head of Agriculture and Horticulture Esther Hancock (all pictured above) on visits to the Central North Island Dairy Academy in Reparoa and Massey University in Palmerston North.
Ms Hancock said the students learned about the fully funded (no accommodation costs due to sponsorship by Shanghai Penxing), 36-week course offered by the Academy that leads to jobs in the dairy industry where a graduate can reasonably expect to earn between $80,000 and $120,000 per year as a farm manager by the time they are 25. Entry to the course is via UE and interview. There are 15 places a year.
The same group of students visited Massey University and met academics researching topics such as nitrate hungry pasture alternatives, nitrate leaching, variable irrigation, apple varieties and a new market for bobby calves. They also heard about the fantastic job opportunities domestically and overseas.
Massey University is planning a fully funded Horticulture degree in the near future because the industry is expanding and modernising so fast.
Ms Hancock also travelled to the national Agribusiness Conference in Dunedin where she heard from speakers such as James Dicey from Mount Difficulty wines talking about future-proofing, Dr Anna Campbell speaking about innovation in Agribusiness, and Dr Michelle Glogau talking about Growing NZ careers.
A highlight was a session by leading chef Greg Piner (pictured with Ms Hancock), who demonstrated how to cook a new cut of steak called “flat iron”, as well as lamb and venison – all supplied by premium meat producer Silver Fern Farms.
Ms Hancock added, “I came back re-invigorated about agriculture and agribusiness.”
