2026 Nuffield NZ Farming Scholarship. Apply by 17 August 2025. Read More...

Apply for 2026 Nuffield NZ Farming Scholarship by 17 August 2025. More details...

Nuffield Blog & News

Rebecca Hyde: REX Interview, what’s next for 2021 Nuffield Programme?

Rebecca Hyde, NZ Rural Leaders Trustee and 2017 Nuffield Scholar joined Hamish McKay and Richard Loe on Rural Exchange (Sunday 14 June) to talk about what’s next for the 2020 Nuffield Scholarship Programme post the COVID19 global travel restrictions.

OPEN NOW!
2021 Nuffield NZ Farming Scholarships Applications 

Are you an NZ Farmer/grower or Agribusiness Professional looking to broaden your horizons, grow your networks and gain some global experience in the agri sector?

Click here to find out how you can do that through the Nuffield Scholarship Programme. 

Apply now for a 2021 Scholarship.

Bio-ethics can help tough choices – Ben Hancock

Ben Hancock, 2019 Nuffield Scholar joined Sarah Perriam recently to talk about his scholar report ‘Rural Leadership taming the wicked problems‘ and how to grow the toolbox to foster society’s trust.

Click here to listen to the full podcast on Sarah’s Country – 20th May.

Ben also spoke with Richard Rennie from Farmers Weekly (28th May) and said ‘Bio-ethics can play a role beyond medical dilemmas in helping agriculture resolve its wicked problems.’

Read the full Farmers Weekly article here.

Nadine Porter in Wales

Nadine is a 2017 Nuffield NZ Scholar and in recent years has been living in Wales.

Earlier this year, she was appointed to the Welsh Red Meat Promotion Board (Hybu Cig Cymru) for a period of three years.

“This position allows me to advance my views on the need for global messaging around red meat with the main players, in the face of a complex and rapidly changing environment”

Nadine Porter

Read the press release here >>

Nuffield Programme 2020 & 2021

Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarships

2020 Programme Update

2020 scholars were just starting Day 1 of their Contemporary Scholars Conference (CSC) and their 15-month programme with 70 other international scholars in Australia when the government announced new border and arrival measures. 

The scholars decided to return home the next day and the CSC programme was eventually cancelled three days later as all countries advised their citizens to return home immediately.

We are now looking at how we engage these scholars in one of the greatest learning experiences as we face disruption of the global economy and food production challenges.

At this point their programme will include some international webinars and preparation in New Zealand and potentially Australia. Hopefully international borders will be open again by early-mid 2021.

2021 Scholars Applications

We intend to select 2021 scholars. 

However, the scope and timing of the scholarships will depend on the ability to travel for the programme, the Contemporary Scholars Conference and the six-week Global Focus Programme going ahead as scheduled. Potentially we could have two groups of scholars travelling in 2021. 

Suffice to say, the team and Trustees are focused on finding safe ways for 2021 scholars to travel and learn. Assuming that is possible, it will be important for New Zealand to have scholars assessing the changes to the international agri-sector and bring those lessons home for the benefit of all. 

Energy & ag a lasting marriage – Cameron Henderson

Cameron Henderson (2019 Nuffield Scholar) used his Nuffield Scholarship to explore links between agriculture and energy and how technology can work to harness farmed energy sources including waste matter to supply national energy needs. 

Read the full Farmers Weekly article.

Listen to the interview on Sarah’s Country (12th May 2020).

Click here to read Cameron’s Report ‘Farming Energy: Opportunities to help NZ reach net zero carbon 2050’.

 

Is Roundup our friend or foe? : Hamish Marr – 2019 Nuffield Scholar

Is Roundup our friend or foe?

For more than 40 years glyphosate has been an invaluable chemical weapon in farmers’ arsenal as a low-residue, safe and simple weed control enabling greater flexibility and less soil disturbance.

Canterbury arable farmer Hamish Marr devoted his Nuffield Scholarship to examining how glyphosate fell from grace in the public eye and what farmers can to do to preserve it as an invaluable crop treatment. 

Read the full article in the Farmers Weekly.

Click here to listen to Hamish’s interview on Sarah’s Country (30th April).

Click here to read Hamish Marr’s research report ‘Can we farm without glyphosate?’

Corrigan Sowman: Podcast interview – 23 March 2020

Are farmers equipped to deal with social judgement?

In this podcast interview on ‘Unpopular Farmer’, 2019 Nuffield Scholar, Corrigan Sowman talks about his Nuffield experience and how ‘Social License’ prompted his research topic – ‘Farming in a Pressure Cooker: How pressure impacts farmer decision making.’ 

Corrigan’s research started off as a technical problem and ended as a social one that farmers have perhaps been predisposed to over generations of high stakes, small margins, uncertainty and fast change, all leading to what he sees as ‘social judgement’.

Listen to the full podcast here.

Ryan O’Sullivan: Nuffield Farming Scholarship recipient (2017)

New Zealand well placed to produce food to meet demands

Ryan O'Sullivan: Nuffield Farming Scholarship recipient (2017) - Major shareholder with wife Tina in a farm equity partnership, Fairlie, South Canterbury

Nuffield farming scholarships focus on the international perspective – where New Zealand fits in the global agri-food sector and what’s driving things. Through my scholarship travels and research, I’ve learned New Zealand is very well placed to produce food to meet consumer awareness and demands. Our milk is a fantastic product with great nutritional value and many diverse applications.

However, ensuring an ongoing demand for our milk means getting things right both inside and beyond the farm gate – and that takes quality leadership. Our sector needs to foster leaders and give them the tools to succeed, and grassroots farmers are the best people to navigate through the issues ahead.

That’s why money invested by sector organisations like DairyNZ to build that capability is well spent. Through Rural Leaders, the Nuffield and Kellogg programmes are providing a pipeline of potential leaders armed with knowledge and skills in the rural community. DairyNZ’s support is a big part of that.

On a more personal note, my Nuffield scholarship also gave me the confidence to get in front of audiences and share what I saw, and who I talked to helped me with my critical thinking and prompted me to go for some governance roles.

This article appeared in the April 2020 edition of Inside Dairy magazine