General Archives | Page 13 of 21

The Rural Reader. April book review.

The Rural Reader – Book reviews by
Dr Patrick Aldwell.

Late in 2022, with the advent of ChatGPT, Artificial Intelligence (AI) took a great leap into our everyday lives, especially in education.

ChatGPT, one of several generative chatbots, is just one of many AI applications that more and more of us use every day. Kissinger (one of the world’s leading statesmen) and friends, highlight many other uses especially in business, agriculture, and medicine (including the identification of an antibiotic that until now was unknown to humanity).

Led by an author who is a genuine big-picture thinker, this book provides a dispassionate view of current uses and opportunities that new AI tools could provide. In my view, this book helps us better understand the considerable implications and opportunities for our young people as they navigate their AI-derived futures.

Patrick Aldwell
April 13, 2023

The Rural Reader. March book review.

Tragedy at Pike River. How and why the 29 men died. Rebecca MacFie (2013)

Rebecca MacFie, one of New Zealand’s leading investigative journalists, has produced what is arguably a master class in governance – as it should not be practised.

Updated in 2022, this gripping and at times frustrating read, backed by intensive research of documents and personal interviews, challenges the quality of governance behind the decisions leading to the deaths of “The Pike 29”, the coal miners who died on that fateful day: November 19, 2010.

Professional directors who have spoken to Kellogg courses, and Kelloggers who have since read it, have encouraged participants to read and learn from this important book – as do I.

Patrick Aldwell
21 March, 2023

The 2023 Nuffield Triennial Conference.

On summing up the Summit and Triennial Murray King, Rural Leaders’ Summit Chair said,

“We couldn’t have hoped for a stronger group of people to share this experience with. From our hosts to our delegates, and from our Summit speakers to those who attended the Nuffield Triennial Conference and the Rural Leaders’ Summit.

It was an incredible opportunity to share knowledge, ideas and for deeper connection to the people in the global food and fibre sector.”

Nuffield Triennial Conference Committee Chair, Michael Tayler, “…it has been a privilege to spend the past week with delegates.

We hope that they have enjoyed themselves, renewed old friendships, made new ones and have gained insights and knowledge they can take back to their respective fields.

We now look forward to visiting Ireland in 2026.”

We’ll do a full wrap up of the Triennial in April’s Rural Leader, including sharing some of the professional images and video taken during the tours and a few key statistics.

For now, we share some of the best images from delegates and few of our own too.

The 2023 Nuffield Triennial Conference in images.

Friday 24 March

2023 Nuffield Triennial Welcome Function and Dinner – Cardboard Cathedral.

Image One: Two Nuffield Tractors welcome guests at the front of the venue.

Image Two: Lucie Douma, 2023 Nuffield Scholar, with her Nuffield Ireland counterparts.

CULTURE: Traditional Banks Peninsula Tour.

Image One: Matt Iremonger speaking about Willesden Farm.

Image Two: Don Macfarlane, James Parsons and others listening.

Image Three: Onuku Marae, near Akaroa.

Sunday 26 March

LAND: New Approach to Scale.

Image One: Dinner, The Tannery. Video of deceased Australian Scholar, Chris Reichstein.

Image Two: Pamu Farms dairy operation, Eyrewell.

Image Three: Tour group at King’s Truffles.

Image Four: Bill Lee, 1987 Nuffield Scholar, talking black truffles.

Monday 27 March

2023 Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit.

Image One: The final panel discussion of the Summit.

Image Two: Lunch break in the Town Hall foyer.

Tuesday 28 March

Tekapo.

Image One: Delegates are met with snow in Tekapo.

Wednesday 29 March

LAND: Mackenzie Basin Majesty.

Image One: Haldon Station – Mackenzie Basin.

Image Two: Hosts address the tour at Haldon Station.

Thursday 30 March

LAND: Natural Delights.

Image One: The road south.

Image Two: Cardrona Distillery.

Friday 31 March

LAND: The Seeds of Change.

Image One: Wilkins Farming. Steve Wilkins, 2013 Nuffield Scholar, on left.

Future: A Centre for Growth.

Image Two: Plant and Food Research Summerfruit Breeding Programme.

Saturday 1 April

Image One: International delegates on a morning swim. Lake Wakatipu.

Image Two: The Gala Dinner, circa midnight.

Image Three: Nadia Lim and Steve Wilkins, Royalburn Station.

Sunday 2 April

Technical Tours begin.

Image One: Alliance operation.

Image Two: In the Woolshed.

Image Three: Eric Watson and David Weath explaining world record wheat production.

Monday 3 April

Technical Tours begin: Arable and Innovation/Animal Pasture.

Image One: Last stop – Lorne Station.

Image Two: Back to the start! Tour arrives back at Distinction Christchurch.

A Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit Summary.

By the time 2023 Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit attendees heard from Devry Boughner Vorwerk, she had spent two days visiting local farming operations and attending functions on the Nuffield Triennial Conference’s opening weekend. There was also an interview with Rural Exchange – REX too.

As Keynote Speaker at Monday’s Summit, Devry helped set the tone of the day, with ‘Getting Grounded in the Humanverse’. The Humanverse, as Devry explained it, is this,

“The Humanverse challenges us to remain focused on the human condition and to end human suffering.”

It does this by “…disrupting today’s business practices, profit models, static industry infrastructure, organisational cultures and designs, investment strategies, leadership decisions, public policies, and all other underlying factors impacting food security and nature, to ensure that humanity flourishes now and into future generations.”

You can learn more about the Humanverse by listening to March’s Ideas that Grow Podcast. Or, take a look at a recent post below. In the lead up to the Summit, Devry outlined the concept stating that [in the Humanverse],

“We’re not anti-technology. We are not anti-capitalism. We are pro-humanity.”

Here’s a recent LinkedIn post giving more detail.

Devry’s talk was pitched well and provided a plausible and actionable reframe of the ‘how do we do this’?

What is humanity asking of you? What are people asking of you? What is nature asking of you?

Here’s a breakdown of the Summit’s speakers through the posts and thoughts of those in the audience.

Our World: Our Natural Environment.

Erica van Reenen: Climate Change 101.

Erica bravely stepped into the programme after a speaker withdrew at the last-minute. Erica delivered a fantastic talk, summed up in a post by Ariana Estoras here,

“Erica put the extensive facts on the table on what farmers have to work with to lower methane emissions (not a lot, yet), in a compelling and pragmatic way without any spin or agenda. Except to remind us all that there is still a long way to go and we need to be bold and brave and stay the journey together.

Ka mau te wehi e hoa!”

Karin Stark: The Power of On-Farm Renewables.

Karin flew in from Australia to deliver an excellent talk on the role of on-farm renewables in reducing energy costs and emissions. It was a strong example of the real solutions that underpinned the Summit.

Tom Sturgess: Balancing the Needs.

Tom discussed the importance of embracing global challenges through conversation, innovation, and collaboration, as well as changing behaviour at scale.

As Olivia Weatherburn summed up in a post,

“Tom Sturgess, owner of Lone Star Farms and founder of methane mitigation ventures, woke us up with his insightful and to the point thoughts on food production and emission reductions. ‘We can do this but let’s use the science.’”

And Penny Clark-Hall offered her take out too, quoting Tom in a post,

“We can do it without gutting the Ag sector. History has shown it comes down to the consumer, their perception, and desires.”

Simon Love enjoyed this quote from Tom, on his focus on on-farm sustainability: “It’s good for the animals – they have a lovely life. Except one bad day…”

Volker Kuntzsch: Algae and the Blue Wave Economy.

Volker spoke about the potential value of algae and the sustainability opportunities that lie within our oceans which make up an unbelievable 96% of our economic zone.

Penny Clark-Hall quoted Volker in a post, “We’ve got an indigenous knowledge base which is amazing.” 

Our People: Consumer Trends and Trade.

Vangelis Vitalis: New Zealand Agriculture and Global Trade.

Discussing a global view of trade, from a New Zealand perspective, Vangelis delivered an informative talk. Penny Clark-Hall’s key take out, in her post, “The environment is featuring strongly in FTA’s and we need a China+ strategy.”

Simon Love enjoyed this quote from Vangelis Vitalis on maintaining and growing our exports through sustainable practices:

“Doing nothing is not an option, and we have to be able to prove that we’re taking action”.

Lain Jager: GM and the Future of Agriculture.

Lain looked at the current conversation on alternative proteins, innovation and genetic technology. Within that, where the opportunities are and the critical conversations required to grow value for New Zealand’s Food and Fibre Sector.

Penny Clark-Hall posted a quote of Lain’s, “Our sector is like a big dining room where we have the privilege of knowing everyone.” 

Lain also issued a challenge, captured in an image by Hamish Marr.

‘Doubling export revenue – while halving emissions.’

Emma Parsons: Managing Sustainability and Change.

Emma discussed how customers are playing a greater influence on what happens behind the farm gate and how farmers can and need to adapt to changing customer expectations.

On Emma’s talk, Penny Clark-Hall posted her take-out,

“What is good for the environment needs to be good for the farmer and the cow.” 

David Foote: Alternative Sources of Capital for Food and Fibre.

Chairman of the Australian Cattle Council, David talked about how businesses in the food and agriculture industries access capital.

On the business of running a farming operation, we love this quote from David,

“The best form of fertiliser for a farm is the owner’s boots.”

Our Future: Entrepreneurship and Leadership.

Chris Parsons: Developing our Future Leaders.

Chris spoke about the current state of leadership development in New Zealand’s Food and Fibre Sector. He drew on some of the findings from recent research conducted between Rural Leaders and the Food and Fibre Cove.

Chris also discussed the roles of Kellogg and Nuffield on rural leadership.

Penny Clark-Hall’s key take-out from this talk was, “The real value of leadership is to unleash the potential of others. [We need to] Move from an ego-system to an eco-system.”

Olivia Weatherburn added a quote from Chris in her summary of his talk, “‘We need to grow people like we grow hoggets’, nurture them from the start, unleash their power and build on their potential.’”

John Penno: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

In a post Olivia Weatherburn said, “John Penno from Leaft Foods highlighted the importance of holding our decisions up to the lens of climate change as it isn’t going to go away and every decision will influence it.”

John’s work in developing Rubisco Protein Concentrate from the leaves of common forage crops, is another tangible example of real solutions in practice.

Mark MacLeod-Smith: Modern farming – Thinking Differently.

Mark MacLeod-Smith, CEO of Halter, talked about modern methods of farming and their role in simplifying farming while also combating issues like climate change.

A key take out from Mark’s talk, for Penny Clark-Hall was,

“If you want abnormal results you have to act abnormally.”

Dr Ellen Joan Nelson: The Future of Work.

Dr Ellen Joan Nelson spoke about her research and ideas on the future of work in New Zealand and further afield.

As Olivia Weatherburn eloquently summed up in a post,

“Dr Nelson was a bundle of energy and passion that just jumped off the stage at us.

She highlighted that if you give leaders belonging, autonomy and purpose they will have the ability to be authentic and authentic leaders are the best leaders because they are themselves.”

Julia Jones: Working Together for the Greater Good.

Julia spoke about collaboration in order to meet customer needs and sustainability goals while remaining profitable.

Olivia Weatherburn neatly sums up her talk in a post,

“…the powerhouse known as Julia Jones gave everyone’s abs a workout with her to the point yet humorous and thought provoking talk. It’s pretty simple, ‘…Life is not fair get over it and get on with it. Support people on how not to fear change. If you’re driving the fear then you are not leading.’”

And from Julia herself, in a post-Summit post on her talk, here are three key points,

“😥 Life isn’t an eternal road of joy, (be super boring if it was). Shit really does happen, pretending it doesn’t, or trying to side step it never ends well. Trust me it’s good for the soul to hit it head on sometimes.

🤷‍♀️ If we want to attract talent into your sectors, let’s not spend 90% of the time complaining about it. It’s cool to be honest about some challenges but there is a fine line between complaining and explaining.

💨 It’s healthy to vent but be aware of the impact your venting is having on those around you. If you are reinforcing fear you are not leading.”

In summing up the entire 2023 Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit.

In a post by Emily Walker, the top takeaways for her were:

The time to change is now. To get to where we need to and want to be is going to require radically different action.

Take people on the journey, tell the story, empower teams and communities. Be transparent, evidence-based, share the data. (This applies locally, nationally and to our international customers).

Get out of the ruck and into the helicopter.

Simon Love gave this summation in a post-Summit post,

“The conference on Monday was an incredible line-up of speakers. A couple of highlights for me were the infectious energy (and to-the-point language) of both Tom Sturgess, and Julia Jones, the insights from Mark MacLeod-Smith into Halter’s journey, and Dr Ellen Joan Nelson’s insight of belonging, autonomy and purpose being at the core of a healthy and exciting workplace.”

And the final word to Julia Jones,

“Thanks for this opportunity Rural Leaders to be part of this event, it was such a special gift to make a pig of myself at the trough of knowledge is hugely appreciated. Lessons galore were gleaned from speakers and attendees a like 🙏”

The state of leadership development in New Zealand’s Food and Fibre Sector.

In August 2022, The Food and Fibre Centre of Vocational Excellence (FFCoVE) requested the New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust conduct research into the current state of leader development in the Food and Fibre sector.

Click on the image to access the report.

The Food and Fibre sector includes the primary production industries (other than mining) and the related processing industries. It also includes service industries along the value chain from producer to final consumer, including providers of transport, storage, distribution, marketing, and sales.

Working with sector stakeholders, the project will collaboratively define, design and develop an integrated approach tailored to Food and Fibre to help establish leadership development pathways for our people to grow and succeed.

Interviews have and continue to be conducted, along with focus groups. The research rigour ensures perspectives are fully understood from across the span, strata, and demography of the sector.

Interviews have also been conducted with United Kingdom and Australian counterparts, and conversations with selected individuals outside of the sector. Most of the interviews were with people in senior roles.

The first report is now complete. It delivers findings on the state of leadership development in our Food and Fibre sector. The report suggests six principles of leadership that are relevant to the sector.

You can read the full report at the link at the top of this article.

The second phase of the research will seek wider perspectives. To achieve this the research team will run several focus groups during March and April.

We’ll keep you posted on the research as it progresses.

Olivia Weatherburn joins NZRLT Board as Associate Trustee.

The NZRLT Board and Leadership Team are pleased to announce Olivia Weatherburn’s (Nee Ross) appointment as Associate Trustee. Olivia replaces Albert ‘Alby’ Hanson. We’ll share more on Alby’s positive and valuable contribution to the board in next month’s Rural Leader.

Olivia joins Kate Scott, Chair, Michael Tayler, Rebecca Hyde and Craig Mckenzie, Trustees, and Hamish Fraser, Independent Trustee.

In the appointment Kate Scott said, “We’re pleased to welcome Olivia to the NZRLT board. Olivia will bring a deep connection to the sector and a passion for the development of people.”

Olivia is based in Southland living on a 700ha sheep and beef operation supporting her husband.

“I am a farmer, rural professional and all-round advocate for the rural sector and its people. I see the opportunities as endless and am honoured and excited to be part of the red meat and wider food and fibre sector.”

“Throughout my community roles with both New Zealand Young Farmers, Lions International, and day-to-day role at Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), I meet many people who have been positively impacted by the New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust and the programmes they deliver.”

“I see the confidence and drive it gives our future leaders. In 2017 I was also privileged to complete the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme and the outcomes from the experience and learnings have and continue to open doors for me”, says Olivia.

An Associate Trustee role is for one year. It offers valuable governance in practice experience to those appointed, while providing the opportunity to contribute to the Board’s objectives and to the wider sector in a meaningful way.

Olivia’s first official board meeting will be 19 April.

Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit: One day, 12+ speakers, and a Town Hall full of Food and Fibre leaders.

With the Summit less than a month away now, registrations are strong, and the speakers, host, panellists and organising team, are set to deliver a stand out day for our sector.

On Monday, 27 March, The Christchurch Town Hall will see food and fibre leaders, agribusiness professionals and growers from all over New Zealand, get together with international agriculture delegates and speakers.

Here’s a summary of the day, which includes a couple of new speakers since the last update.

Welcome Scene Setting

Snapshotting the imperative for change and the opportunities landscape – supercharging the discussions to come.

Devry Boughner Vorwerk CEO, DevryBV Sustainable Strategies

Embracing change while balancing shareholder and stakeholder expectations. To set the scene for the day, Devry’s Keynote piece ‘Getting grounded in the humanverse’, will outline the mechanisms to succeed where geopolitical volatility, climate change, and societal expectations are putting pressure on traditional business models.

Our World: Our Natural Environment (10am-11:45am)

Speakers: Tom Sturgess, Volker Knutzsch, Karin Stark, Harry Clark.

Exploring leadership and innovation in the advancement and restoration of the natural resources critical to the future of agribusiness.

This stream will showcase champions nurturing and restoring our environment while remaining profitable, and early adopters building their business toward a carbon neutral future. It will also provide an oversight of the role of the public sector in delving outcomes for the natural environment, while touching on how NZ is shaping its future in the agriculture, food and fibre sector.

Our People: Consumer Trends & Trade (12:45pm – 2:30pm)

Speakers: Vangelis Vitalis, Lain Jager, Emma Parsons, Mark Foote, Anna Benny.

Businesses responding to the unstoppable international trends of power shifting to the consumer, business models being challenged, and the eastern movement of the world’s economic centre of gravity.

Our Future: Entrepreneurship & Leadership (3pm – 4:30pm)

Speakers: Julia Jones, Marl McLeod-Smith, Dr Ellen Joan Nelson, Angus Brown.

Concentrating on the future social, economic, and environmental wellbeing of agribusiness.

This stream will traverse the areas where value will be derived in generations to come, showcasing world-leading business exemplars and responsive new business models.

Presenters from a wide range of industries will show how economic viability will be the key to family business succession and intergenerational business value growth.

Consolidation and Wrap Up

A consolidation of discussions and a focus on the key takeaways and action commitments. Presented by panel and interviews from Corin Dann, Master of Ceremonies.

Learnings of agri-food and consumer businesses front footing the challenges of changing demographics, food trends and fads, and changes in consumer values.

To secure your seat for the Summit today, head to
https://ruralleaders.co.nz/rural-leaders-international-summit-day/

Changes at the helm of the New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust.

Chris Parsons, CEO Rural Leaders has resigned after three years leading the Trust. Chris will take up a role with MyFarm Investments in May, where he will work closely with former NZRLT Chair and MyFarm CEO, Andrew Watters.

Under Chris’s leadership, characterised by strong purpose and gentle (but persuasive) direction, Rural Leaders has enjoyed a busy, effective and stimulating period of achievement.

“Chris’s contribution to NZRLT has been significant and impactful. Chris has helped to shape our purpose and contribute to growing world class leaders for New Zealand.

Under his leadership we have navigated many trying circumstances, including a global pandemic, but have emerged with a clear understanding of the needs of future leaders,” said Kate Scott, NZRLT Chair.

Here are some of the successes Chris has generated over the last three years. We have grouped these across four key areas: Programme Innovations, Projects, Presence and Partnerships, and Thought Leadership.

Programme Innovations

Kellogg PG Cert through Lincoln and RPL through Massey and Lincoln (96% uptake and 63 PG Certs awarded in the first 18 months).
Value Chain Innovation Programme, with Lincoln – to increase the entrepreneurial capabilities within the sector and to extend NZ Rural Leader’s impact.
undaunted by Covid, NZRLT actually increased the number of Kellogg Scholars and ran two regionally located programmes to increase the rural leadership bench in our regions.
Introduced geopolitics into Kellogg to better equip Scholars for a changing global environment.
Revitalised the Nuffield Scholarship, including a full review of the selection criteria.

Projects

Mackenzie Study, a world-class longitudinal study on the impact on NZ made by Nuffield and Kellogg Scholars over the last 72 years.
High-Performance Study with Lincoln University on behalf of MPI
Commissioned by the Food and Fibre CoVE to complete a major body of work to design an ecosystem for leadership development in NZ Food and Fibre Sector.

Presence and Partnerships

MoU with Massey, Lincoln and AGMARDT
finalists in the inaugural B+LNZ & Rabobank people development awards.
Forged a relationship with the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.
Built a closer working relationship with AWDT
developed several regional partnerships (Whangarei A&P, Whanganui and Partners) to promote regional leadership growth.

Promote Thought Leadership

Established the Ideas that Grow podcast, hosted by AgriHQ to promote the thought leadership of our Scholars.
Established the Kellogg Insights Series that takes gives a thematic summary of Kellogg reports (eg Horticulture, dairy, Māori Agri business).
Upgraded the website and lifted the report quality to make Scholars thought leadership more accessible.

The Rural Leaders Team continue to build on many of these achievements. Chris, the NZRLT Board and leadership team have set into motion several initiatives set to generate further positive outcomes in the near future.

On the strong foundations Chris has helped set, we will continue to deliver outstanding leadership for the sector and look forward continuing to work alongside Chris in his new role,” added Kate Scott, NZRLT Chair.

Dr Scott Champion – Seeing beyond the boundary fence: Strategic leadership development for Food and Fibre now.

Listen to "Dr Scott Champion – Seeing beyond the boundary fence: Strategic leadership development for food and fibre now." on Spreaker.

Dr Scott Champion has a wealth of sector knowledge, gained not just from tenures at the top of organisations such as Beef+LambNZ, but from possessing a genuine passion for helping our rural leaders grow.

As Facilitator and Programme Director of the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, Scott plays a vital role lifting rural leadership capability.

Bryan Gibson – Managing Editor of Farmer’s Weekly.

Welcome to the ‘Ideas that Grow’ podcast. I’m Bryan Gibson, Managing Editor of Farmers Weekly. With me today is Dr Scott Champion, who is the programme leader for Kellogg. G’day, Scott. How’s it going?

Scott Champion – Facilitator and Programme Director of the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme

Yeah good thanks Bryan. Great to be with you.

Bryan: We often talk to the scholars themselves about their individual research projects, but with the Kellogg Programme, you’re in charge of running the programme as a whole. How long have you been with Rural Leaders?

Running the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme – what’s involved.

Scott: I’ve been running the programme for about five years now and had actually spoken at the programme as a guest speaker prior to that. So it’s been a real delight to be involved over the last five years. And it’s a programme now that’s been going for close on 50 years and has put through over 1000 graduates in that time.

Bryan: What’s involved in running the programme? Obviously, there’s attracting people to get involved, there’s organising their meetings and get-togethers and what they’re going to study and marking assignments. What else is there?

Scott: The focus really, from my time as course director, is on the face to face interaction and the way we connect between what we call phases. So the programme itself is divided into three of these phases.

The Kellogg Programme’s three phases – Phase One.

Scott: The first one is nine days long, second one is five days long, and then the third one is five days long. So they’re quite intense, particularly that first phase, across the nine days. So we run two programmes a year.

Each programme has about 24 participants. Sometimes it’s a little bit less, sometimes it’s a little bit more. And the focus in each of those, really the nine day intense phase one, is all about getting to understand concepts of leadership. Where also we use the analogy of a toolbox. We’re trying to give our Kellogg participants tools that they can use to go out and be more effective and contribute both into their own businesses or the business that they work in, but also in the sector more broadly.

We think about things like presentation skills, leadership models, and tools. And then also in that first phase, we’re trying to introduce them into aspects of the different components of the broader food and fibre sector that they might not be aware of.

For example, if you work in Horticulture, giving you an opportunity to understand what are the big picture issues that are happening in dairy and vice versa across that sort of plethora of industries that are operating in New Zealand. So that’s our focus around phase one.

Kellogg Phase Two.

Phase two is completely different. We come to Wellington, so I should say phase one and phase three are both typically held at Lincoln.

We come to Wellington for phase two, and that’s all about the economy, politics, and concepts of influence, models of government communications, the role of media, things like that.

Kellogg Phase Three.

Then in phase three, we come back to Lincoln again. I think you might have mentioned earlier, the Kellogg Scholars are undertaking a project through the five or six months that they’re on the Kellogg Programme and that’s on a topic of their own choosing.

It’s quite a significant piece of work and they’re presenting those back to the group. We also get some industry people coming along to those presentations and then we tie the programme together. So that’s the broader structure across the five or six months of the Kellogg Programme.

Bryan: So someone turning up, as a newly minted Kellogg Scholar, and that first phase one, those nine days, it’s sort of full on workshops and a lot of listening and a lot of talking, and you bring together people from all around the Sector, and all around the country into that?

What to expect on Kellogg.

Scott: Absolutely. We’re deliberately trying to do that and to get a real mix of different industries. So one of the things we’re trying to do is expose people beyond the boundaries of their day to day and give them an opportunity to think more broadly. So that’s pretty important to us.

It’s really interesting when you talk to the Kellogg Scholars at the end of the programme about what’s been most valuable. One of the things that they often talk about is the fact that they got to understand things outside the boundaries of the industry they typically work in.

What many of these people will do is they’ll be in that transition from technical roles to general management and focusing more on people and managing teams and those sorts of things. So creating that broader understanding and giving them an opportunity to think beyond their technical skill set is one of the things that we’re really trying to do. But the first nine days is quite full on. It’s a real immersion.

One of the things we try to do is have lots of speakers coming to present. We might have Chairs or CEOs or Directors, quite senior people from around the sector and make sure in those sessions we’re opening up lots of time for discussion and Q and A. It’s not just that monologue from the front.

One of the things I always say, is at the start of phase one, that you’re going to learn as much from one another as you do from those that you hear presenting at the front of the room.

The Kellogg Final Research Project.

Bryan: Do people applying to be Kellogg Scholars have an idea in mind of what they’re going to do their project on, or are those formed as the programme goes forward?

Scott: I guess the answer to that question is yes and no. So we do get Kelloggers to think about their project topic prior to joining us in Phase One. We kicked off a couple of weeks ago, and we actually ran a video conference prior to the start of the face to face programme to give them an opportunity to get more information on the nature of their projects, to do a bit of thinking about what they wanted to focus on when they came into Phase One.

Some of the conversations we have around project topics happen here. But often what people do is they’ve got a broad idea of the area that they want to work in, but as they get exposed to some of the content in Phase One, even as we head sometimes towards phase two, they’ll refine the topic, narrow it down, and get more focus. I think the answer, Bryan, is yes, they do. But often the interactions with one another, the interactions with the content, will help refine that and give it a real impact as they go through the programme.

Bryan: I’ve interviewed 20 or 30 of the Rural Leaders Scholars and a number of them said to me, I had what I thought was a fantastic idea for the project and after sitting through this or talking to one of my fellow Scholars, I realised that my angle was wrong and it went this way – and it was much better for it.

Scott: Absolutely. And you’re right, that’s often a point of feedback, and we talked about that at the start, just saying, this is probably going to happen and that’s fine. Be aware that your topic might change and shift a bit as you go through and you learn more and you start to think about things from other perspectives you might not have been exposed to before.

The Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme and the Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarship. What are the differences?

Bryan: Maybe it may not be clear to some, but what is the difference between a Kellogg and a Nuffield Scholarship?

Scott: Sure, it’s a great question which we get asked all the time. They’re quite different programmes. So the Nuffield Programme is a year-long experience. It’s individually directed.

The Nuffield Scholars are really focusing on a project topic and then designing their own experiences – gathering information and data as they write the report. So there’s a report that comes out of a Nuffield Scholarship as well. They design that themselves in conjunction with the trust and mentors that they’ve put together. Obviously, travel is a big component of a Nuffield. So going offshore, immersing in other agri-contexts is a really key part and has always been a key part of Nuffield.

The Kellogg Programme is six months long and more structured in the sense that we are running the phases I described previously. Where we have content that we’re putting in front of Kelloggers and getting them to think about and interact with. And their project is obviously shorter in duration and more compact in terms of what’s required. So Kellogg is more structured and shorter.

Scott: They’re different rather than staircasing one way or the other. In fact, recently we’ve had someone who had previously done a Nuffield Scholarship, come back and do the Kellogg Programme. There have been a number of people who’ve done Kellogg Programmes and then gone on to do Nuffield Scholarships. So, different in scope and focus, and I guess, the degree of self-direction that there is in them.

What academic support is available to Kellogg Scholars?

Bryan: I guess there are lots and lots of people in the food and fibre sector who would get really excited about leadership training and being in the room with all these people. They might be a bit daunted by the sort of academic aspect of putting together a large project. Is there support for that and how academic are they? How does that work?

Scott: There is support, absolutely. So I’m really fortunate to have a colleague, Dr Patrick Aldwell, who was previously one of the Deans at Lincoln. Patrick is involved in the programme. He was the Course Director prior to me and he still looks after the project component. Patrick’s enormously experienced in the sector, but also in terms of just how do you do a really good piece of research?

One of the things we say to our Kellogg Scholars is, look, you might not have done one of these before, and actually, you might not have to do another report like this again.

If you think about the core skillset that we’re trying to encourage you to experience and build into your toolkit, it’s about how do you identify a really great problem?

How do you define a solid research question or a problem definition around that?

How do you go out and collect data and talk to people and assemble information to analyse that? And then, how do you craft a really compelling response to what it is that you’ve been working on over the last six months and to respond to that research question?

If you can generalise those skills, they can be used in a really significant array of different contexts, whether that’s a family, farming or growing business. Whether that’s working with a bunch of colleagues, whether that’s reporting up to a management team, a senior leadership team, or a board. That logic and argument is something we’re really trying to give people an opportunity to experience.

Yes, lots of support, and I think, as we say, even if you haven’t done it before, and even if you’re not doing it again, there are really core skills here about logic and how you create really compelling arguments to have impact and influence as well.

Kellogg Programme Director Scott Champion – background.

Bryan: Now, you yourself have a background in academic study, and you’ve been at the top of industry good groups in New Zealand. Tell us a little bit about how your journey to where you are now.

Scott: As you can probably tell, I’m an Australian from the accent, which hasn’t faded. I’ve been here for about 20 years now, so I’m a city kid who did agriculture, sort of stumbled across agriculture when I was trying to work out what I wanted to do when I finished school.

I’ve just had a really wonderful professional career and opportunities to date. I love the broader food and fibre sector and have had fabulous experiences here in New Zealand. I did an undergraduate degree at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and it’s actually a programme that doesn’t exist anymore. It was called Wool and Animal Science. It had a sort of a textile component – as well as an Ag component.

My technical background is in wool and I then did a PhD in Animal nutrition and ended teaching after that in the School of Agriculture at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.

The school had lots of really close connections with industry and Tasmania’s economy was a lot like New Zealand’s. Very food and fibre dependent. I was teaching Animal Nutrition and Physiology and Introduction to Ag and Hort. I did that for six years.

New Zealand and the path to Kellogg.

Scott: I then came across here to New Zealand to work for the New Zealand Merino Company, as Research, Development and Product Innovation Manager. I had four and a half years there. Again, wonderful experience working with a great bunch of people who were doing interesting things and really trying to think about Merino fibre in a different way and that tight connection to growers.

Then I went to the industry body, which was then Meat and Wool New Zealand, which then became Beef+LambNZ. I had ten years there. I had a GM role, looking after policy and promotion, and then the last seven and a half years as CEO.

Then almost seven years ago now, we started a little consulting practise called Primary Purpose. There are three of us in the business. We describe ourselves as sort of a niche research, advisory and analytics firm, working across food and fibre in New Zealand.

So, yeah, we work across all of the sort of major industries and then for about probably a quarter to a third of my time, is the Kellogg work. So it’s a lovely mix.

Bryan: Now, having led Beef+LambNZ for quite a long time and then being away from it for a while, what are your thoughts on the industry group’s advocacy efforts in the last few years and do you think the criticism of them is valid?

Common challenges beyond the boundary fence.

Scott: I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately having had a number of conversations with people, that in my time, so almost seven years ago I left, a lot of the focus was around productivity improvement.

In my time with Beef and Lamb, I think from memory, it was the 2006/2007 season, was sort of the worst year in 50 years in real terms for profitability in the sheep and beef sector.

So that’s, how do we stay profitable as individual farming businesses and how do we stay in the game? The challenges around that was a real theme that ran through my time there. One of the things that really strikes me now is, we look at the dominant conversations that hit the front pages of your publications, and we talk about them in the Kellogg Programme too.

There are these big cross sector issues around environment, animal welfare, social licence and all of the different components of that. How do we maintain that social licence with the public onshore and offshore in our export markets to continue to be able to export and deliver the products that people want?

It’s a really significant shift. The boundaries of the problems now and the things that we talk about, they don’t line up with the boundaries of an individual business. They don’t stop at an individual farm or an orchard’s fence line. How you deal with that is quite challenging. The ability of the sectors to work with one another and operate with one another, I think is really critical.

We’ve seen various models and approaches like that developed over the last while. That feels like it’s quite different to what it was ten years ago, 15 years ago, in terms of what’s required, in terms of focus, but also at an individual farm and business level. Of course, there’s still the requirement to make those individual productivity improvements and to focus on the business and stay in the game.

So one of the things that has been pretty challenging, both for individual businesses, and for the service sector and also for the industry bodies, is it’s an ‘and’ conversation as well as supporting individual businesses to continue to improve. We have to connect across the sector to address these big cross sector issues as well. So it’s a pretty full agenda.

Gaining perspectives on the sector’s big challenges with Kellogg.

Bryan: I think that point you made about these issues being far wider than the boundary fence is quite important, because I almost feel that if more in the industry did the Kellogg Programme, they’d realise at the moment, a lot seem to take the ‘my farm’ attitude to an all of world issue.

Whereas if you had a more holistic view of what consumers are feeling overseas, the social licence position in New Zealand, then there would be a different perspective on things.

Scott: Yes. I think one of the responses we often get, and we run a little activity on the last day of the Kellogg Programme with a conversation about what was most valuable to you as you’ve gone through the programme. One of the responses we’ll often get from participants is ‘I got insights into other sectors beyond my own and I learnt that I can generalise and they’re actually dealing with many of the same issues that I am’.

So the context might be different if I go from horticulture, to dairy, to sheep and beef, to forestry, whatever it might be. But if I push that level up, that issue up, and think about it at a slightly more strategic level, there are really similar things here that we’re trying to grapple with.

I think when you do that, it does give you opportunity to connect with others, to get different insights, to think about things in different ways.

So, in terms of the context of the Kellogg Programme, what we’re trying to do with our 50 or so Scholars each year, is to get them to think about ‘how do I look across to other sectors and other places and beyond the boundaries of food and fibre as well other things going on in tech or manufacturing or whatever it might be.

Where I go, the context is a bit different, but actually, there’s an analogy there. There’s something I could really learn from that. I think about how to adapt it. I might be able to bring it back into my own context and do something a bit better, or a bit faster, or with a bit more impact, or whatever.

The Kellogg Programme in 2023.

Bryan: All right, so two and intakes a year into the Kellogg Programme. So I guess you’ve got another cohort kicking off mid-year, is that right?

Scott: Yeah, sometimes three intakes, but that’s right. We kicked off our last programme two or three weeks ago, last week of January, first week of February. That programme goes through to July, and actually we start our second programme of the year just before we finish our first programme of the year. So we’ll have a programme running from mid-June through to the end of November. Applications are closing, I think about 16 April, for that second programme of the year.

Bryan: So anyone interested can get all the details on the Rural Leaders website, I guess?

Scott: Absolutely. If they go and have a look at the Rural Leaders website, they’ll see some blue coloured links there through into the Kellogg Programme, and that will give them all the details.

Thanks for listening to ‘Ideas that Grow’ the Rural Leaders Podcast in partnership with Massey and Lincoln Universities, and Agmardt. This podcast was presented by Farmers Weekly.

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