Nuffield Blog & News

Geoff Mathis a Nuffield Scholar has focused his energies into an amazing project in Tanzania – East Africa. With the support of many individuals (including Nuffielders) MFAT, Rotary NZ World Community Service, The Rotary Foundation and numerous other people, this NZD1.1m project is changing lives. The goal: Moving farmers and the community off the poverty

We heard repeatedly about the growing world population and the related demand for food driving the need for bigger, better yields of commodity products (sound familiar?!). America has always been known of the land where bigger is better. We saw that on show in Ames, Iowa for the 2019 Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference. The week

If you asked any of the five scholars from this year they will all say the same I’m sure, our preparation was the key to our success not only in our pre CSC travel together but also at the CSC in Des Moines.  We must thank the board for three key pieces of personal training

My interest in biosecurity started with the harsh lessons of the PSA incursion into kiwifruit in New Zealand. My small orchard was only 500m away from ground zero and like all growers, I got a crash course in the importance of basic biosecurity and hygiene practices.   I started my Nuffield travels around the world hoping to look at examples of on farm biosecurity

Kate Scott 2018 Nuffield Scholar – Global Insights. I have come to the view so far during my travels that globally New Zealand Agriculture is punching well above its weight in terms of both its understanding of the impacts of its activities on the environment, but also in its recognition of the need to change. This is

Right now, farmers throughout New Zealand are confronted by a need to implement change to improve multiple environmental outcomes while still returning a profit.  Supporting them on this journey industry groups, regional councils and central government have developed the Good Farming Practice Action Plan for Water Quality, which acknowledges a range of Industry Agreed Good Management Practices. This has been useful in providing clarity and collaborative industry support for farmers around agreed standards. But I’ve found myself asking the question, “what

The impact on our primary production systems of our transition to a low carbon economy  Leader  Economic projections for our low emissions economy miss a fundamental physical challenge in our transition. Biophysical analysis and our primary food systems can address this. Here’s how.   Background  The transition from energy dense fossil fuels to far less dense renewable

My journey started with a quest to explore what a move to focus more on nutrition would mean for our Primary Industries.  If we diversified and invested into ingredients, extractable compounds and functional claims from our existing production could we increase value for export and develop new market opportunities?  In Canada I had an epiphany.  There I met companies

The 2019 Nuffield scholars were announced on Tuesday 6th November at parliament by Hon Damien O’Connor Minister of Agriculture and Minister for Biosecurity, Food Safety, and Rural Communities. They are: Ben Hancock Ben was raised on his family’s Wairarapa hill country sheep and beef cattle farm. He is now based in Wellington working for Beef

I was interested by the fact that many felt that New Zealand was perhaps the country feeling some of the most significant scrutiny, with a few people commenting on the fact that New Zealand’s farmers are now considered to be on the table of social standing at about the same level as the politicians. By Kate

The last 6 weeks just seems like a blur of Airports, planes, busses, hotel rooms and most importantly an incredibly diverse sometimes extraordinary string of farms and the people for whom that is their passion and livelihood. The key word in that is passion, everywhere we went to we met farmers who loved what they

We also heard about research at Waginengen University in the Netherlands which has highlighted a natural variation for photosynthesis in plants. With this knowledge they are hoping to breed crops in the future which make better use of photosynthesis – opening the possibility for much higher yields and capture of carbon dioxide. By Turi McFarlane, 2018

By Solis Norton, 2018 Nuffield New Zealand Scholar There was virtually no mention of the role of energy in agriculture. Nor discussion of the risk or impact of restrictions on production and trade resulting from emissions regulations or high energy costs. I found this deeply alarming. The Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference mixed some 100 plus forward

Sitting here now reflecting on the week, I realise that there were a few themes emerge that have been interesting to dive deeper into, some issues have been specific to the Netherlands, but many relate to New Zealand. By Andy Elliot, 2018 Nuffield New Zealand Scholar It’s been a whirl wind week here in the Netherlands, I

As a New Zealand farmer, we often hear about the long term subsidies paid to farmers in the EU, without ever understanding why these subsidies were introduced in the first place. By Simon Cook, 2018 Nuffield New Zealand Scholar The theme of this year’s CSC in the Netherlands was very much about learning and understanding the history

November and the last E Nuff seem a long time ago, but Lisa, myself and the Board have been very busy since then with programmes, events and projects. It is a good time to acknowledge, as we head into the two yearly AGM, the workload and contribution of the Trustees.  The Nuffield Trustees (along with the