General Archives | Page 6 of 9

Changes to Nuffield NZ and NZRLT Boards.

Craige Mackenzie and Michael Tayler step down - Murray King and Steve Wilkins join Boards.

We can’t really do justice to the service given to the Nuffield NZ and NZRLT Boards by Craige Mackenzie and Michael Tayler in this short piece. So we will another time.

However, after serving eight years on the the Nuffield NZ Board they are stepping down and will be hugely missed. Their passion and enthusiasm for the Sector will see them both involved in Nuffield and with Rural Leaders in the future, we’re certain.

With Craige and Michael’s departure, the Nuffield NZ/NZRLT Boards welcome Steve Wilkins, 2013 Nuffield Scholar and Murray King, 2003 Nuffield Scholar. Both Murray and Steve bring a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Here’s a short introduction to the new Trustees.

Steve Wilkins, 2013 Nuffield Scholar.

Steve farms in Northern Southland in a mixed cropping and livestock family farming business. He is a Director and Vice Chair of FAR ( Foundation for Arable Research).

Steve is also a director of United Wheat Growers and past Chair of Federated Farmers Southland Arable. Steve was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship in 2013, and studied the synergies between the dairy and arable industries.

He has three daughters and lives with his partner Amanda in Athol.

On his appointment Steve says, “It’s great to be joining the Board and getting a feel for the workings of the Trust. Looking to the future there are challenges across the primary industries more than ever. It is increasingly important we have the pathway to develop leadership within agriculture to deal with these challenges as they present themselves.

I look forward to being able to build on the work of the current and past directors including Craige and Mike who have shaped the Programme to what it is today.”

Murray King, 2003 Nuffield Scholar.

Murray King and his wife Sarah farm a number of dairy properties, plus associated support blocks, in North Canterbury and Nelson.

Murray has a background in farm management consultancy and has other business interests in Canterbury as well as in overseas dairying and food processing. Murray was elected to Rural Leaders’ Investing Partner LIC’s Board in 2009 and has been chair since 2012.

Murray was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship in 2003 and studied staffing solutions for primary industries. He is also a graduate of the Te Hono Stanford Bootcamp.

Active in the sector Murray’s knowledge and experience is evident in the range and number of other directorships he holds, these include: Appleby Limited, Callura Dairies Management Limited (Chair), Cawthron Institute, and New Zealand Dairy Dessert Company Limited (Chair) (Director and Shareholder), to name just a few.

Like fellow Nuffield NZ/NZRLT Trustee Steve Wilkins, Murray is excited about the opportunity to build on the excellent work of Craige Mackenzie and Michael Tayler.

Hamish Marr – Glyphosate, Nuffield, and cropping today.

Listen to "Hamish Marr - Glyphosate, Nuffield, and cropping today." on Spreaker.

Hamish Marr is a fifth generation mixed arable farmer from Methven, Canterbury. He received a Nuffield Scholarship in 2019, completing his research on the topic
Can we farm without glyphosate?

Hamish is Vice Chairman of the New Zealand Seed Authority and is involved in two groups at the foundation for Arable Research, the Research and Development Advisory Committee, and ARG – the Arable Research Group here in Mid-Canterbury.

Listen to Hamish’s podcast above or read the transcript below.

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 Hamish Marr. G’day, Hamish, how’s it going?

Hamish Marr – 2019 Nuffield Scholar and mixed arable farmer.
Good thanks, Bryan.

BG: And where are you calling from today?

HM: I’m calling from Methven, about an hour, southwest of Christchurch. Lovely winter’s day here.

BG: And you run a farming operation there?

One farm, five generations of farmers.

HM: Yes, we’ve got a 500-hectare mixed arable farm, 400 hectares of different cereal crops and small seed crops, and we have pasture enterprise on the side of that. So, we run dairy heifers twelve months of the year, and we have finishing lambs in the autumn and dairy cows in the winter.

BG: How’s the year been for you so far?

HM: Well, it’s been mixed. I mean, we had a tremendous harvest with great weather at harvest time and good yields across the board, and a pretty good autumn. So Canterbury is flush with feed this year as opposed to other seasons just gone.

BG: That’s good to hear. And have you been doing that for a while?

HM: Yes, our family has been on our place since 1873. I’m the fifth generation. If any of my children decide to carry on, they’ll be 6th generation. So, you were here for a wee while.

BG: It’s great to see a farm that’s handed down through the generations and is still thriving.

HM: Yeah. I mean, me personally, I did a BCom Ag in the late the late nineties. And then was a Field Officer for Ravensdown Fertiliser for four years and then came home to the farm in about 2005. So, I’ve been farming not quite 20 years now.

The Nuffield experience.

BG: You were a Nuffield Scholar a couple of years ago. How did you find that experience?

HM: Look, there’s probably not words that can describe it.

A once in a lifetime, life changing, very humbling, eye-opening, eye-watering year of my life. Looking at everything in food production, how we live, farming and politics and everything in one year, it was amazing. Fascinating. I think you ask every Nuffield Scholar; they would say the same thing – beyond their wildest dreams.

Glyphosate use in New Zealand.

BG: Now, your studies focused on the use of glyphosate, which is often a contentious issue in agriculture these days, isn’t it?

HM: Well, it’s very contentious, and that’s the reason why I chose it. I chose it because it was in the news a lot at the time, and there were rumours in New Zealand and certainly around the world, that it was going to be deregistered.

Our farming systems, certainly the farming systems in Canterbury here, and most of New Zealand, where the use of Roundup underpins how we do things and how we move between pastures and crops. If we took that away, it would completely change the way we do things. I wanted to understand how our production systems would look if we were to do away with it.

BG: Obviously, as part of your studies, you do a bit of travel abroad. What did you find out about how different nations use glyphosate around the world?

Glyphosate use overseas.

HM: I spent a year looking at farming systems all around the world, and I hate the term conventional farming, but I looked at conventional farming: organics, regen Ag and inverted commerce, rice farming, horticulture orchards, vegetable production, indoor animal agriculture, extensive and intensive farming all around the world.

There’s a whole lot of conclusions, and the first one is that everywhere you go around the world is different. New Zealand is unique in the way we do things. Unique in the fact that we’re dominated by animal agriculture.

Our animal agriculture is predominantly outside, so the animals go to the food, as opposed to many countries where the food goes to the animals. Because those countries are cutting and carrying feed to animals, their systems are predominantly arable based. By very nature of that, the usage of Roundup compared to what we do here in New Zealand is significantly higher.

We have a real point of difference in this country. If you think about the Roundup story in isolation, we don’t use a lot of it just because of the way our farming system is. And also, the fact that our farming systems are pasture based is, again, another point of difference compared to a lot of other places.

BG: Do you think it’s one of those situations which quite often comes up when global conversations around food production make their way to New Zealand, that we’re not really part of the mix because we have our own way of doing things?

Glyphosate application rates in NZ compared to abroad.

HM: Yes. Look, I visited a place in the UK, a large place, and this was a lightbulb visit for me. They reduced their glyphosate usage on this farm. Big place. When I say big, about 30,000 ha. They reduced their glyphosate usage by 90% simply by adding sheep into their farming mix. And I suddenly thought, well we’re already doing that in New Zealand. That’s standard practice.

So, when you look down into the numbers and the application rates on a total per hectare basis in this country, we’re so far down compared to a lot of other developed countries for that fact.

I also saw the impacts of the other extreme Roundup ready crops in the Northern Hemisphere, United States and Canada, where applications of four or five times a year are not uncommon. When you multiply that up by the millions of hectares involved, it’s easy to understand how Roundup is now in the food chain in a lot of those countries.

BG: Now, despite finding out about the issues with some of those Roundup ready crops and those problems that they can have in some parts of the world here in New Zealand, while we don’t have those, Roundup is still pretty important to some of our farming systems, isn’t it?

Glyphosate as a strategic farming tool.

HM: I think in that sense we are a real outlier. That starts from the simplest of things. We’re a small island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so we’ve got this lovely temperate maritime climate. A lot of our competitors are continental countries. So in its simplest form, their weather patterns are completely different. And the weather patterns dictate what you do.

The way people farm, say, in Europe, it’s evolved over 2000 years. Well, agriculture in this country, we’ve only been really at it for a couple of hundred years. We’re a very young country compared to a lot of other places. With that, when some of the things aren’t ingrained in us as a population of people.

BG: And then you have the flow on effects of tilling the soil, which has been found to be bad for soil loss and releases carbon.

HM: Yeah, all that stuff. The nuts and the bolts of it is that we can’t on a global scale or even a national scale, do away with that as a strategic tool. Because what it does in sort of broad-acre farming, and I term pastoral farming in this as well, is that it reduces the amount of time in between crops because it takes away the work that cultivation used to do prior to its use.

Prior to Roundup’s use the way to control weeds and to establish a new pasture or a new crop, it involved about six-months-worth of cultivation because it was the cultivation that killed the remnants of the pre pasture, as it were, or crop. Roundup does that in one application, and you can sow your next pasture or crop or whatever it is that day.

To go backwards, away from that, you think about take six months of production out and that has huge impacts. I’m not saying that’s true in every situation because it 100% isn’t true in every situation, but it is a reality in a lot of cases.

BG: How did the report received? Once it came out?

Taking the Nuffield research to the people.

HM: Well, I have done probably between 50 and 60 little talks around the country and town halls and to Lions clubs and to farm groups. I’ve been to two garden clubs. All sorts of different groups have been interested in what I have to say.

I think I just tell the story of exactly how farming systems work and how all these things that we do on farm work and why we do them. I found myself, in a lot of cases, having to compare farming to your vegetable garden and to think about a cropping farm as a vegetable garden, and your dairy farm or your sheep farm as your lawn. Your lawn stays down for infinitum, as does a lot of pasture. So, we don’t actually do anything to them.

Your vegetable garden, on the other hand, is being turned over all the time into something new. There’s a very clear rotation involved and all of those things I had to think about things a wee bit, but hopefully I got the story across.

BG: Now you’ve completed your report. What’s life been like for you since then? You back on the farm?

Nuffield, Kellogg and giving back to the Sector.

HM: I have been on the farm, and that keeps me very busy. But also, I am the Vice Chairman of the New Zealand Seed Authority. That’s an industry good group involved in setting policy within the certified seed industry. I sit on that board as a representative from the herbage seed subsection of Federated Farmers. We, as the name suggests, represent the farmers that grow herbage seeds: ryegrasses, clovers, cocksfoots, fescues, etc.

I’m involved in two groups at the foundation for Arable Research, the Research and Development Advisory Committee, and ARG – the Arable Research Group here in Mid-Canterbury. I’m on a couple of other things in our local town, so, no, I keep pretty busy, to be honest.

BG: They don’t call it rural leaders for nothing, I guess. Certainly sets you up to be one.

HM: Yeah, it’s a privilege. It’s a privilege to represent farmers on those things, and I do enjoy it.

Anyone involved in food production should consider a Kellogg or a Nuffield. It opens your eyes to so many other things and it challenges your perspective. I went away with these preconceived ideas about what we do and why we do it, and then went and looked at all these other things and came home with a completely different understanding and perspective of how things are done. Also, how things fit together and what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong.

BG: Just before we wrap up Hamish, what are some of the issues you’re facing right now as an Arable farmer?

The main issues facing arable farmers.

HM: Well, that’s a great question, Bryan. I think the first one, and I think every arable farmer would agree with me on, is one of viability. I mentioned at the start we had a great harvest, and we did. But we face, like a lot of other farmers, increasing costs, and very static prices for our produce at the other end.

So, yes, our prices have increased a wee bit, but nowhere to the extent that our input costs have. And a lot of crops we grow now, we are barely breaking even when you consider our fixed costs of production.

We grow a lot of high value small seeds in this country for our own export, but also for domestic use. Our domestic production takes up about 20% of the total produced of the 80% that’s left.

Prices have really fallen away, and demand has fallen away over the last twelve months. To the extent that there is seed sheds full of seed that would have been exported, that is not going to be exported in the next twelve months.

Those supply chain issues will have effects on the ground for farmers, and there will be challenges with what arable farmers do produce on their farms in the next twelve months, two years, three years, because these things take a little while to unwind.

“It’s not all beer and skittles out there.”

Options for cropping farmers in the next two years are going to be challenged by not only profitability, but actually by options as well. It’s not all beer and skittles out there.

It’s interesting, we had a wonderful harvest, as I said, but that wonderful harvest has filled up the stores in this country, and we’ve seen prices drop domestically for grain because of the surplus. So what’s good on one hand is not so good on the other. The industry has got its own challenges.

I would finish that by saying now, of course, that the world wants plant-based food, so the future variable farming I see is rosy. We just have to get there.

BG: Hopefully just a matter of waiting out this next couple of years and you can thrive after that.

HM: Yeah, that’s it.

BG: Thanks for listening to Ideas That Grow, a Rural Leaders Podcast in partnership with Massey and Lincoln Universities, AGAMRDT and Food HQ, this podcast was presented by Farmers Weekly.

For more information on Rural Leaders, the Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarships or the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, please visit ruralleaders.co.nz

Precision Selling – New Zealand: Building Relationships with Large Farmers.

A new partnership with Purdue and Lincoln Universities.

Rural Leaders, in partnership with Purdue University’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business, and Lincoln University, bring this exciting (and essential) new programme to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Precision Selling: Building Relationships with Large Farmers – Lincoln June 21-22 and Hamilton June 26-27.

Managing key accounts requires a diverse skill set – skills often more closely aligned with management than traditional sales.

Programme content will be very similar for both locations with the same content being presented, but different examples tailored to each region.

During this two-day seminar, Dr. Scott Downey, will lead you in specifically addressing strategies for working with large-scale producers in the evolving agricultural marketplace.

You’ll explore the complexities of working with growers and delve into the areas of strategic account planning, resource allocation, information analysis and the use of sophisticated selling tools.

This programme is especially beneficial if you are responsible for: serving and selling to key accounts, managing relationships with key clients, serving local and regional markets, developing strategies for evaluating customers on profit and growth potential, and integrating technical and sales efforts with customers.

To find out more or to register head to Purdue University’s programme page.

For questions about this programme or more information on who should attend, please contact:

Hamish Gow – hamish.gow@lincoln.ac.nz / 021 423 380,
Lisa Rogers – lisarogers@ruralleaders.co.nz / 021 1396 881 or
Taryn Nance – tnance@purdue.edu / 00 + 1 + 765 496 2447.

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.

Kate Scott: Front footing the fast-moving regulatory environment.

Kellogg Rural Scholars Series: Horticultural Insights

New Zealand’s food and fibre sector is full of capable and purpose driven people. Supported by Horticulture New Zealand and an incredible group of
Partners, the New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust is privileged to be entrusted with growing many of these people in their leadership journey.

A key aspect of the rural leadership approach is research-based scholarship. The clarity of thought and confidence this approach promotes is transformative.

Many Kellogg and Nuffield Scholars go on to live their research. They build businesses. They advance community and social enterprises. They influence
policy and they advocate for animal and environmental outcomes, informed by an ability for critical analysis and their own research-fuelled passion.

The relevance of research by emerging strategic leaders – with their sleeves rolled up – is no more apparent than it is in New Zealand’s Horticulture Sector.

In the following pages we are delighted to précis 14 horticultural research reports by Kellogg Scholars. The full reports can be found at
https://ruralleaders.co.nz/kellogg-our-insights/

The reports traverse topics as wide and timely as horticultural futures, social impacts on Iwi, the potential for impact investing, technical production and
profitability topics.

Ngā mihi,
Chris Parsons

and the NZ Rural Leaders Team

Download and read the full report here:

Kellogg Rural Scholars Series: Horticultural Insights

More issues from the seriess

Kate Scott: Meeting food and fibre’s challenges, together.

Listen to "Kate Scott - Meeting food and fibre's challenges, together." on Spreaker.

Kate Scott is a 2018 Nuffield Scholar and Chair of the Board of the New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust and is part of the team behind Forefront: 2023 Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit and its line up of speakers and panelists.

Pulling together a speaker ensemble of this calibre has been no easy task, but as Kate explains the chance to bring industry together for one day – makes the effort well worthwhile.

Forefront, the Summit theme, will focus on those businesses making change now – those providing solutions to the sector’s and the world’s biggest agribusiness challenges and opportunities.

Bryan Gibson – Managing Editor of Farmer’s Weekly.

I’m Bryan Gibson, Managing Editor of Farmers Weekly. And with me I have my first repeat visitor to the podcast, Kate Scott. How’s it going?

Kate Scott – 2018 Nuffield Scholar and Chair of the Board of Rural Leaders.

I’m good. Thank you, Bryan. And yourself?

The 2023 Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit - Together for a day.

Bryan: Yeah, really good. So, today we’re here to talk about the upcoming Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit, which is at the Christchurch Town Hall on the 27 March. Kate, you’ve been involved in putting this together.

Kate: Yes, I have. There’s a great team of people have been working hard to bring not only the one-day, Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit together, but also the Nuffield Triennial Conference together too.

We started planning this event back in 2020, but we were a casualty of Covid like many events. And so, we’re now looking forward to March when we can host our Summit. It’s going to be amazing to not only welcome some of our international guests who will be attending the as part of their involvement with the Nuffield Triennial, but also really looking forward to getting a broad and diverse range of New Zealand farmers, agribusiness and rural professionals along to hear our great line up speak at the Agribusiness Summit.

Bryan: Now, when we talked a while back, your [Nuffield] research was on the evolution of New Zealand farming into a more sustainable place and I guess that’s something that’s going to be a focus of the [Summit] day, isn’t it?

Challenges and opportunities in a fast-changing world.

Kate: Yeah, it is. And it will probably be of interest to some of the listeners that we’ve chosen to theme our conference for the day ‘Forefront’.

The reason behind choosing Forefront was about not only getting in front of all the challenges that the primary sector are facing, but also looking at it through a lens of opportunity.

How can we be at the front of this change and find ways to innovate and take advantage of a changing world? I guess that’s then gone on to help us to create the speaker themes for the conference.

Summit day themes and speakers – Our World.

Kate: We’ve split the day into three broad topic areas. The first is taking a more global picture. It’s called Our World. Here we’re talking about some of those big challenges in our natural environment.

We’ve got some speakers touching on climate change. Doctor Harry Clark will share his incredible breadth of knowledge [on climate change] with us.

We’ve got a speaker talking to us about the role of solar, particularly from a farming perspective – a woman by the name of Karin Stark. Karin and her husband farm in Australia. She’s done a lot of work using solar energy and developing solar panels within their farming business and how they integrate that more generally. So that’s going to be an interesting part of that first Our World theme.

Then we also have a speaker talking about the opportunity the sea brings and how we utilise our oceans as a resource and as an opportunity to grow our primary sector.

Summit day themes and speakers – Our People.

Kate: Then we move into our second, which is Our People. That will look at consumer trends and trade. I guess we’ve seen a massive shift in international trends and how that’s changed over the last few years, particularly on the back of COVID and what other trends might emerge around the agrifood and the consumer side of things.

So, to help us to understand both the challenges and the opportunities there, we have Vengalis Vitalis who many of you will know as our Deputy Secretary of Trade here in New Zealand. He’ll be talking about a global view of trade from a New Zealand perspective.

We have Lain Jager joining us to talk about what the role of future food and genetic modification might mean for food production in New Zealand. Then we’ve also got Emma Parsons from Fonterra who’s going to be talking to us about what Fonterra see from that consumer trends and trade perspective. Already a great line-up of speakers.

Summit day themes and speakers – Our Future.

Kate: Our last session for the day is called Our Future. We’re wanting to try to change that up a little bit. So, we’ve got four or five speakers who are going to talk for a shorter period of time – a little bit snappier – talking about all those opportunities around entrepreneurship, leadership, the future, social, economic and environmental wellbeing.

We have Traci Houpapa talking to us about future leadership and a Te Ao Maori perspective – and possible new business models. We have Angus Brown from Arepa, Mark McLeod Smith from Halter, and we also have Dr Ellen Nelson, who will be talking to us about the future of work.

I’ve just given you a big download of the programme! But it’s exciting to have a broad range of topics and people to be able to come together to look at our sector in a positive light. To take some motivation and opportunity to challenge what we’re doing, look for what’s new and the what next? for our sector.

Bryan: It’s great that with the world opened up again, getting some of these global perspectives on the shared challenges that agriculture faces. Some of those people will be in the room. Sometimes these changing consumer perceptions, along with the ins-and-outs of trade deals and that sort of thing, sometimes is second hand knowledge to a lot of the agricultural community here – so it’s good to get a view from the ground, but a different ground.

Devry Boughner Vorwerk - Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit Keynote Speaker.

Kate: Exactly. I think it’s an integral part of what we do, but unless we’re actively doing it, it’s almost one of those back-end functions. We don’t always think about these things if we’re down on the farm driving our tractor or milking our cows.

To that point, our keynote speaker is a woman by the name of Devry Boughner Vorwerk. Devry is coming out to see us from the States and she has amazing background in terms of having been Chief Communications Officer and Global Head of Corporate Affairs at Cargill.

She has her own sustainability entrepreneurship business and is going to be talking big picture setting for us around international business and development. She’s going to be able to do an amazing job of setting the scene initially and then helping us to draw in all the pieces of the puzzle as we hear from our other speakers throughout the course of the day.

Bryan: I did some reading on her earlier in the week and sounds like she’s going to bring some real amazing insight. I mean, Cargill is one of the biggest meat producers in the United States – and then she moved to, I think, Grubhub for a while, didn’t she?

Kate: That’s my understanding as well. And then having done both that policy side of things and the international business, I’m really looking forward to hearing Devry speak. The fact that she’ll be able to join us in person is really a good outcome given only a few years ago we were having to cancel the Summit.

Bryan: In that last session too, when we talk about challenges, quite rightly, I guess people often see that as cost and loss of opportunity. But in fact, there are people out there capitalising on meeting those challenges and there’s going to be some real-world examples of how you can do that.

Kate: Listeners may have heard of Ellen Nelson through her role in helping to secure places for the Afghani refugees last year. Ellen has done a world of research into the way in which we work. She challenges us to think about can we look at the world with ‘can we work school hours’?

Ellen has some interesting insights on how we leverage a lot of our mums and dads who might want to actually be able to work different hours, and how do we do that within our farming business? So, a slightly different perspective, but one that is as applicable to agriculture as any other sector.

Open to farmers, growers, agribusiness professionals and anyone who cares about the future of food and fibre.

Bryan: So, what sort of people are you hoping to attract?

Kate: We’re open to all comers, but we’re keen to make sure that our on-the-ground farmers have the opportunity to attend. I guess one of the reasons we decided to make the Summit a one-day event was that we know how difficult it is for people to get off their farm for too long. We’re wanting our farmers to come. We’ve had a great number of registrations already, as you’d expect.

We’ve got a bunch of our agribusiness representatives from our food companies, from other consultancies, we’ve got bankers, we’ve got some of our more senior leaders from government organisations. A real cross section of our sector. I think that’s where we’re trying to go – that the more views and perspectives we can get in the room, the greater the conversation and the questions.

One of the key things that we wanted to be able to do through the Summit was to provide the platform for a safe and robust conversation, where when you break out from morning tea, you can pick up one of these interesting topics that we would have heard about, talk to some people about their views and get the conversation going.

So, trying to kickstart the conversations on some of these big topics.

Bryan: And of course, everything will be kept on time, on track and on message from some pretty cool people running the show.

Bringing the Summit to life and the sector together.

Kate: Yes, we have got Corin Dann, an experienced journalist most will probably have heard of through the National Program – on breakfast in the mornings. Corin has very kindly agreed to come and facilitate our sessions for the day. A big part of the sessions will be the panel discussions and the conversations.

At the end of the day, we’re going to have a wrap up session where we get Devry back on stage with our other guests and Corin, to have an in-depth conversation around what’s happening, what the future looks like and the opportunities.

[From] the back end, the chair of the Summit, Murray King, and a small committee of volunteers will all be working hard in the to make sure people are well fed and well-watered, and that everything is kept to time.

For those who haven’t been to an event at the Town Hall in Christchurch before, one of the highlights is always the food. They do a great job there of showcasing local produce – they try to support their local Canterbury growers. The food is also something that’s always good to look forward to in those events.

Bryan: The building itself is something quite special. It’s such a wonderful piece of architecture.

Kate: It is iconic, so it’s great.

Bryan: And there’s a dinner.

The Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit Dinner.

Kate: Yes, we have a dinner that will be hosted after the Summit. So, there are still some tickets available for that, although they are selling out very fast. The dinner will allow people to come together and to take the conversation to that next step. We will also be joined at the dinner by Minister O’Connor, who is going to be speaking. And we have some evening entertainment from Te Radar.

Another exciting part of the Summit is that it will include our international Nuffield guests who are actually going to be here in New Zealand as part of a ten day conference – where we kick off on the Saturday or the Friday night actually, prior to the Summit. It’s a bit of a traveling trip from Canterbury all the way [down the South Island] and finishing in Queenstown the following weekend. So, it’ll be a great opportunity to connect with a wide audience from around the globe.

Bryan: Excellent. Well, that sounds [like] something for everyone to think about attending. How do people go about getting tickets if they’re interested?

Kate: Yeah, go and have a look on the Rural Leaders website. There’s a big headline that flashes up that says Forefront. Click on that to head to the registration page to attend the Summit and/or the Dinner.

Click here to visit Forefront Summit page for more details.

Rebecca Hyde – Collaboration, cooperation and finding the common ground.

Rebecca Hyde - Ideas that grow podcast interview

Listen to "Rebecca Hyde: Collaboration, cooperation and finding common ground." on Spreaker.

Ideas That Grow: Rebecca Hyde, 2017 Nuffield Scholar and 2021 Kellogg Scholar

Lynsey Stratford has discovered farmers make a few assumptions that aren’t very helpful – like accepting the fact that work might be dangerous and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. As Lynsey explains, “There are changes we can make, but those assumptions and those mindsets have been deeply held for quite some time.”

As a consultant, Lynsey helps the primary sector with people management and development services and training. And, when it comes to health and safety she says, “We shouldn’t expect people to just know this stuff, but rather teach them and support them as they develop skills.”

Lynsey’s research report unpacks the paradox that while farmers care about their people, farms as workplaces are overrepresented in fatal accident and injury statistics. So, what can be done to improve this?

Bryan Gibson – Editor of Farmer’s Weekly.

I’m Bryan Gibson, Farmers Weekly Editor. And with me today I have Rebecca Hyde.

Rebecca Hyde – 2017 Nuffield Scholar and 2021 Kellogg Scholar, Oxford, North Canterbury.

Thanks, Bryan.

Bryan: So, where are you calling in from?

Rebecca: I’m based at Oxford in North Canterbury.

Bryan: And what keeps you busy down there?

Working with Catchment Groups.

Rebecca: I’m a Farm Environment Consultant, so I spend a lot of my time dealing with farmers and actually at the moment I’m working predominantly with a catchment group. It’s great to be dealing with farmers in the same area and focusing on the catchment within that region.

Bryan: And with catchment groups, it’s a system that really seems to be working quite well in a lot of places.

Rebecca: Yes, it is. What I’m enjoying about it is you’re getting a good idea of what farmers are really facing, the challenges within the catchment or sub-catchments, and then you’re able to be quite tailored and specific to those areas. So, you see a lot of common themes coming through when you’re talking to farmers in the same area, which then allows you to be quite specific and help the catchment group or farmers in the best way possible, all working together.

Bryan: Yes, and all for positive outcomes, really, isn’t it?

Rebecca: Yes, absolutely.

Nuffield research into collaboration.

Bryan: Now that kind of works in quite nicely with your Nuffield Scholarship, doesn’t it? Because you looked at collaboration for environmental gains.

Rebecca: Correct, yes. So actually, the catchment group I’m now working on, we’ve had an MPI funded project for the last two-and-a-half years, but that was established back in 2016. It came off the back of a plan change for the Hurunui District Landcare Group. It was a plan change for the Hurunui regional area. It was through that the collaboration or collaborative process was being worked through.

At that time, I was working across other areas in Canterbury, but they had the zone groups set up and the word collaboration kept coming up a lot. It was often used in the frames of how do we collaborate better, or why aren’t we able to collaborate on this? So, this word continued to come up and at the time I was involved in a few other things with Beef+LambNZ as well, and I thought, well, what’s happening globally and how can we better understand this? So that was really a key trigger for me to look at Nuffield.

Same, same but different.

Bryan: So what did you find when you went around the globe looking at this issue?

Rebecca: I looked at a lot of places within land use, but also outside of it. I met with some people in Silicon Valley, for example, because collaboration isn’t something that’s unique to agricultural land-based activities, it is something that is right across the board. What I found was there was often a common good or a common purpose, that people were trying to achieve.

The other thing that was common was that often there was sort of a burning platform, so some decisions were needing to be made and that was where collaboration was being used. But the other thing that stood out quite a lot was the word collaboration gets used regularly or often, but it might be partnership or cooperation that might be needed.

It’s understanding how you’re needing to work together and then working in the most appropriate way. There are some key differences between, say, a partnership, collaboration, and cooperation. So even though they’re just words, there is quite a difference there.

Bryan: Yeah, I guess in some ways people might need to work together to reach a singular goal and in other cases there are people doing the same thing who could get efficiencies if they work together.

Rebecca: Exactly. So, for example, cooperation might be working together for those efficiencies, but you’re working in isolation still. Whereas collaboration really is about coming together for a common good. So, let’s say you’re a catchment group with some dairy farmers and sheep and beef farmers and maybe some Iwi there as well – you might be all representing your certain areas, but once you start collaborating, it’s about that mutually beneficial area.

Let’s say a water body, that becomes the key purpose as opposed to what you might have been representing. That’s often where we get it a bit wrong because we’re still strongly aligned to what we were representing. It’s a change of focus.

Bryan: I guess if you bring other stakeholders into a situation, then what success looks like changes, doesn’t it? Because you’re sort of ticking boxes that you wouldn’t have ticked on your own.

The foundations of successful collaboration.

Rebecca: The other thing too is that is quite time consuming – collaboration. One thing I noticed was where there were some good examples of it abroad, a lot of time put into building the relationships, the understanding, getting on that common ground.

Often in New Zealand we were just rushing through that foundation piece and then with human nature, we’re very good at focusing on what you don’t agree on rather than what you do agree on.

We tend to get into the stuff we don’t agree on a bit too soon because that sort of foundational trust and understanding is not there yet. That was one of the key things we saw when it was successfully happening – there was a good base understanding of what was all agreed on and then sort of reflecting back on it as well. Like, are we still on the same track? Are we still trying to achieve the same goal? Has the goal changed? Because things can change when you start a project. It’s that conscious effort of reflecting and reviewing on the process.

Bryan: Is it just a matter of taking the time and getting an understanding of all the players involved? Or are there frameworks or structures you can put in place to help you along the way? Or both?

The importance of neutral facilitation.

Rebecca: Yeah, both. The other thing too was having someone that can facilitate it. A couple of examples that I saw where the facilitator worked effectively – they had government backgrounds, so they had been quite familiar about how the structure works within government. These were in areas like environmental regulation so that facilitator knew what needed to be bundled up to get it back to government.

They were very neutral with the parties that they were all dealing with. Having that person as neutral as possible in that Facilitation process – that was something that I observed coming back home. I’m just talking about the Environment Canterbury (ECAN) examples that I was dealing with at the time. But the Facilitators were often ECAN staff members, so they weren’t neutral in the process. There again, that trust piece wasn’t quite there with the stakeholders. The person that’s trying to pull together everyone’s thoughts and help with the direction of the group is pretty key as well.

Bryan: Catchment groups seem to work because you have the common goal. You have support from people who are like you, and they face the same challenges. You also have that kind of almost friendly competition thing going on. You don’t want to be the one who’s not doing the work, I guess. Is that fair?

Rebecca: Are you meaning like peer pressure?

Bryan: Sort of, yeah.

The strengths of Catchment Groups.

Rebecca: Yes but hopefully in a positive way. We’ve noticed that in the project that I’m working on now in the Hurunui, we’re doing a one-on-one approach. We’ve found that once we got to that critical mass, there were farmers that were just wanting to be involved because everyone else was and they didn’t want to be the odd ones out.

There’s absolutely that effect that catchment groups can have. I suppose it’s a bit of FOMO – people do want to be involved and it’s a good thing to be involved with as well, because to me, it’s sort of about putting all the pieces to the puzzle together. It’s a real strength of catchment groups as well, because you are across a common area, say a sub catchment – you can then work with everyone within that and that’s a real strength.

Bryan: Yeah, I guess it’s also a way of switching things from having to live up to regulations or expectations and turning it into, here are some goals we want to reach, and it will help us in these ways and so it’s more of a positive mindset, I guess.

Rebecca: It is. I think the beauty of a catchment group and working with the community is that you’re working with the people that live there and they want the best for the environment that they’re living in. Often there’s generational farmers there as well, or people living within those catchments, they’re not necessarily doing things intentionally wrong, but there’s some tweaks or improvements that can be made to get a better outcome.

That’s the beauty of a catchment group as well, because farmers are very good at dealing with what’s in their farm gate, but sometimes struggle beyond the farm gate. Where a catchment group also has a real strength, is around pulling together all those pieces of that puzzle to get an overview, to then help those farmers understand what occurs beyond the farm gate and how they can help to minimise those risks or improve the environment around them.

On Nuffield and Kellogg.

Bryan: Now, I think you are one of the first two-time scholars we’ve had on the podcast because you did the big one first at Nuffield, then you went on and did a Kellogg sometime later. Can you tell me about why you wanted to do that?

Rebecca: Sure. When I did my Nuffield, I was at a bit of a crossroads. Do I want to look more high level on New Zealand and its place in the world? I certainly felt at the time a Nuffield was more appropriate for what I was wanting to do than a Kellogg and so I was fortunate to get my Nuffield. That was 2017.

Fast forward about three years and I’d started my own business and we went into COVID, and I’d been an Associate Trustee on the New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust as well. So, I got a bit more exposure to the Kellogg Programme and I was particularly interested in the second module, which is Wellington based, looking at how Wellington operates.

I thought it was a great opportunity to have a go at a Kellogg because I had started my own business – I knew the value of a network. And the cohort you have on Kellogg is a very broad network within Food and Fibre in New Zealand. That was appealing to me. Understanding Wellington or getting a bit of a front row seat into Wellington for a week in a sort of post COVID environment.

Professional and personal development.

Things have changed quite a lot and I’ve always been quite big on personal development, so I saw Kellogg as a great opportunity for me to do that within my own business. That was one of the key reasons I looked at a Kellogg and I did have people go,” …is this not (a step) backwards?” A few people made comments like that – and it’s like, no, they’re just very different programmes. They absolutely complement each other – they are standalone programmes.

I thoroughly enjoyed my Kellogg, and (as part of my research) I was able to collaborate between Iwi and Farmers in the Hurunui District where I’ve been working. So that was just an opportunity as well. I do quite like the research aspect as well in these programmes. I suppose, looking at a specific topic that I could do a bit of a deep dive into.

Bryan: As I was going to say, you came back for a second crack. So, you must really value the Rural Leaders ethos and programmes?

Rebecca: I absolutely do. I’m a big believer that if you ever put yourself into something, you will only get as much out of it as what you put into it. I think certainly the Kellogg is such a well put together programme, and that it was really appealing for me at the time. And having, as I said, started my own business and wanting to expand some networks into other areas as well – it was great.

Is the food and fibre sector collaborating well?

Bryan: So do you think in the last five or six years, that word collaborate, is it being used as intended now? Are we doing a better job at it in the Food and Fibre Sector?

Rebecca: I think we are. I must admit, every time I hear a news story or something like that and the word collaboration comes up, my ears certainly prick up. I think we are getting a lot better regarding how it’s being used, when it should be used, and what we need to do to make it effective. I do see improvements. I think we’ve still got a wee way to go, though, in ag. I think the last 18 months, probably twelve months, we’ve got a bit fragmented again.

That was another comment that came from people I was meeting abroad (on Nuffield). They’re like, “God, New Zealand is so small, how can you all not be on the same page together?” And you would think that, but we do seem to be quite good at that fragmentation within the sector. Hopefully 2023 might see us a little less fragmented. I think what’s good for the Food and Fibre Sector is good for New Zealand. We need to remember that.

Bryan: Thanks for listening to Ideas that Grow, a Rural Leaders podcast in partnership with Massey and Lincoln Universities, AGMARDT and Food HQ.

This podcast was presented by Farmers Weekly.

Seeking applications for an Associate Trustee. New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust.

The Board of the New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust (NZRLT) is seeking applications for an Associate Trustee.

This appointment is for 12 months starting February 2023 and finishing in February 2024.

The NZRLT Board meets six times per year and holds additional meetings as required. The duration of each meeting typically runs to half a day.

The NZRLT is seeking applications from Programme Alumni (Nuffield, Kellogg and Value Chain Innovation Programmes).

Role of the board

The Board operates under the NZRLT Trust Deed. Its role is to represent, and promote the interests of, the Trust and, thereby, industry investors and alumni. Having regard to its role the board directs, and supervises the management of, the business and affairs of the NZRLT including:

Strategy. ensuring the NZRLT’s goals are clearly established, and strategies are in place for achieving them,
Policies. establishing policies for strengthening the performance of the NZRLT including ensuring management is proactively seeking to build the business through innovation, initiative, technology, new products, and the development of its business capital,
Performance. monitoring the performance of management appointing the CEO.
deciding on whatever steps are necessary to protect the NZRLT’s financial position and the ability to meet its debts and other obligations when they fall due, and ensuring that such steps are taken,
Fiduciary Responsibilities. ensuring the NZRLT’s financial statements are true and fair and otherwise conform with law,
Standards. ensuring the NZRLT adheres to high standards of ethics and corporate behaviour,
Risk. ensuring the NZRLT has appropriate risk management/regulatory compliance policies in place.

In the normal course of events, day-to-day management of the NZRLT is left to management. All Trustees are expected to operate objectively in the interests of the NZRLT. The board is collectively responsible for the success of the NZRLT.

As Associate Trustee your voice will be welcomed at the Board Table, but as a non-voting member you will not be required or accustomed to act or exercise controls and powers required of the permanent Trustees.

Timing and location of board meetings, and time commitment

The board normally meets six times per year and holds additional meetings as the occasion requires. The duration of each meeting typically runs to half a day. You will receive the board papers for the meeting by one week prior.

In addition to routine board meetings, you should allow for preparatory work and travel, and ensure that you are able to make the necessary overall time commitment. All Trustees are expected to have carefully reviewed all board papers and related material sent to them for meetings.

Remuneration

This is an unpaid role. However, the NZRLT will reimburse all direct and indirect expenses such as accommodation and travelling expenses, reasonably and properly incurred, and documented.

To apply

Written application and CV should be emailed to Chris Parsons, CEO, NZRLT at chrisparsons@ruralleaders.co.nz.

Or alternatively, feel free to email Chris to arrange a time for a confidential discussion.

Applications close midnight, January 9, 2023.

We look forward to receiving your application, and if successful, working with you to grow world-class leaders for our country.

The Value Chain Innovation Programme – Sector value-add.

Value Chain Innovation Programme 2022 Cohort

Rural Leaders and Lincoln University have just wrapped up a collaborative delivery of The Value Chain Innovation Programme, a seven-day bus tour of New Zealand’s four major sectors: dairy, red meat, kiwifruit, and apples.

A fully subscribed programme of 22 students, including senior growers, farmers, consultants, industry professionals and government took part in this North Island value chain immersion.

“The carefully selected combination of participants on the programme resulted in many varying opinions coming together in positive debate, to solve problems constructively.

This was helped in no small part by facilitators Professor Hamish Gow and Cllr. Phil Morrison, who laid out a framework at the start of the programme, to help us really dig into what we were seeing,” said Kylie Leonard, 2023 Nuffield Scholar and programme participant.

The Value Chain classroom on wheels.

The bus itself became a rolling classroom for the week-long immersion. Between visits, back on the bus, students discussed, debated and unpacked insights and issues as they arose. Onboard, critical reflection resulted in ten key issues being agreed on.

“One of these issues is that New Zealand is still moving from volume to value and there’s a lot of players who are still volume based – but that’s ok. They run a value chain model that creates value out of volume, whereas others are moving to value-add.

The big example here was non-IP apples at $2 per kilogram in the supermarket, versus Rockit Apple NZ which gets $2.99 for a 76-gram container – as sold at some service stations in Napier. This translates to about $39 per kilogram,” said Professor Hamish Gow, Programme Facilitator.

An immersive learning process.

Perhaps critical for the students was the participatory process, the action-based learning, and the process of engagement where an entire value chain is walked – from one end to the other.

Comparative analysis was used to understand how the many firms create, capture, and distribute value in their respective value chain comparatively across four sectors.

“It’s that depth of understanding people gain once they do the comparative analysis. It allows you to get to the crux of how a value chain operates and what’s critical.

That’s what we built within the programme – a platform for people to rapidly evaluate and understand how firms create value and whether they were effective in the way that they were trying to do this, then how they capture and distribute it, along with implications of that for industry,” said Prof. Hamish Gow.

A framework for unpacking value chains.

Three separate value chain discipline alignment models were explored during the programme: Operational Excellence, an efficiency value model – like Fonterra. Product Leadership – a technically superior product – like Zespri. And finally, Customer Intimacy – as in First Light Foods or Rockit Apples.

“Firms such as Fonterra follow more of an Operational Excellence discipline, that’s driven by volume. In Operational Excellence, you create value from volume, efficiency and scale economies.

In Product Leadership, you must invest a lot of time and money in R and D, innovation, and brand to create a technically superior branded product. Several students suddenly realised that it’s a 15-to-20-year lead for commercialisation for a new version of kiwifruit or apple.

In Customer Intimacy, firms focus on gaining deep insights and understanding of their customers and addressing their concerns.

Exceptional firms and value chains excel in one discipline alignment and are above average in other two disciplines as well,” added Prof. Hamish Gow.

Where to next for the Value Chain Innovation Programme?

Participants canvassed felt the programme was a huge success and well worth the significant time investment away from family and work commitments.

“Everyone came out fizzing. Everyone realised within the first day that the bus was a safe haven where we could engage in challenging discussions and debates.

It was refreshing, exhilarating and it changed mindsets. Everyone wanted to replicate the experience and insights on a larger scale. How could we scale it to tackle the large issues confronting NZ primary industries? I think we’ll do the South Island sometime in 2023,” concluded Prof. Gow.

It seems pairing up with a South Island Programme is likely – and potentially an international version too. At some point in the future, this may become the next logical step – post Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme – in primary industries leadership development.

Dame Jenny Shipley: On Leadership. On Point.

Listen to "Dame Jenny Shipley - On leadership. On Point." on Spreaker.

On leadership. On point.

Bryan Gibson, editor of Farmers Weekly.

I’m Bryan Gibson, Farmers Weekly Editor. This week, I have a very special guest, Dame Jenny Shipley. How’s it going?

Dame Jenny Shipley, 1984 Kellogg Scholar, Bay of Islands.
Very well, thank you.

Bryan: Good. And where are you calling in from today?

Dame Jenny: Well, I live in Russell in the Bay of Islands now. And while I still do a lot of traveling domestically and when I can internationally, this is where we call home.

Bryan: Oh, wonderful. The winterless north.

Dame Jenny: The winterless north, and it couldn’t be a greater contrast really, from my beautiful Canterbury electorate. But even learning to garden in the north is an entirely different process. But I’m enjoying it very much.

Bryan: Now, you grew up down in the Deep South, is that right? And spent a lot of your political career at least, in Mid–Canterbury?

Strong South Island roots.

Dame Jenny: Yes, I was born in Gore and my father was a Presbyterian Minister in Pukerau at the time. So many of those early roots were in a truly rural area. And interestingly, I’m going back there this weekend to take part in a nice ceremony. So I stay connected with a lot of those old roots, even though I’m now living somewhere else.

I spent a lot of my time in the South Island, and the early part of my life, in Nelson and that also has transformed. I don’t think there was a grapevine in Blenheim, or in the Marlborough area when I was a child. It’s a magnificent example of intense of horticulture today.

As a student I went to Canterbury and met Burton and the rest is history. We farmed and then I went into politics and had the great privilege of representing one of the most productive electorates in the country in that central and Mid-Canterbury area.

Bryan: Such a powerhouse of a rural area isn’t it?

Dame Jenny: Very much, yes.

Kellogg and the desire to lead.

Bryan: You connected with Rural Leaders for the first time doing a Kellogg Scholarship back in the early eighties, is that correct?

Dame Jenny: Yes. We were young and farming, and I was already involved in a lot of community leadership. At that time the challenges for agriculture in New Zealand were huge. The change was immense, the economic viability was demanding, interest rates were horrifying. Rural communities were very active, with a lot of emphasis on leadership.

I got given the opportunity to apply for the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, which was an emerging force at that stage. I forget whether it was year three or four that I was a member of – but it was a fabulous experience and in many respects it clarified my desire to lead.

The Programme taught me a lot about what else I needed to focus on in order to be effective. But it definitely gave me the strength and sense of impetus to get on – initially as a Counsellor in my local Malvern area and then into politics.

Is sector history repeating?

Bryan: We talk about the early to mid-eighties in the farming world. It was obviously, as you say, such a disruptive time. Many people think that we’re going through a similar sort of thing now. Do you see those comparisons?

Dame Jenny: Well, I think the commodity cycle is much stronger at the moment, although it’s clearly able to be volatile depending on what happens both at home and abroad.

The other difference, I think, is that agriculture today in New Zealand is not dependent on government subsidies. At that stage you’ll recall, there were multiple transitions going on – the support for agriculture was being removed, the markets were extremely volatile and the farming community was really facing challenges on multiple fronts.

Even in my early years as a Member of Parliament, the residual effects of that period flowed through – it was a very difficult period. Today I think that while there are huge challenges coming up economically, I personally think the agricultural sector is in a very resilient state.

But what is different now, is that there are so many regulatory pressures coming on farming which I don’t think were present in our era. And so, yes, there are huge challenges, but I think the economic viability overall gives at least some ability for farmers to confront those. I think the leadership question is different too, though, and perhaps that’s something that needs to change. So it’s relevant for where we are now.

Bryan: How is that, do you think?

Dame Jenny: Well, when we were farming, all of us belonged to Federated Farmers. It was a widespread group. Husbands and wives turned up and it was an active process in most local communities. I’m not familiar with whether that’s the case now. But like many organisations, I think that they’ve become more professional.

But whether the grassroots element of representation is as strong, I don’t have such a feel for that. But I think that what we’re coming into is that we have to have both the agricultural leaders reflecting the experience of farmers on the ground and making the case very clearly about what can and can’t be done, and indeed what has been done.

We need to share our good news more often.

If I can just pause on this point for a moment. I’ve observed enormous change by farming in response to public pressures. I travel quite a lot around the country and have just have been down through the Waikato – right into the West Coast part of it.

One of the things that struck me over the last five years is that what started off as tree planting on agricultural land for emissions purposes, now the work around wetlands and the fencing of streams and things. New Zealanders can be very confident that the farming community is not only responding but leading in some of these areas.

To come back to the point, I think that for farming to advocate for itself, it’s not only advocating for what’s annoying and frustrating them, but there’s also a huge need for us as an agriculturally strong community to continue to share both the gains and the commitment of the agricultural community to farming well both for themselves, the community, and the future. I think that’s a big change.

When we were farming, many were just farming to survive. Now, I see farmers all over the place investing not only in best practice for themselves, but I do see a lot of change. I think the voice of that needs to be shared across the community much more broadly so that the urban New Zealand population both values agriculture and understands that it’s moving in response to many of the concerns that urban communities have.

Bryan: Farming, as you say, is always evolving for the most part in New Zealand because we are very good at it, and improving. That gets lost sometimes.

Dame Jenny: Well a lot of it is a social response. I mean, farmers will tell you that they are fencing streams and planting for their own benefit and the benefit of their own environment. But there’s a huge public good element in it which unless people either have a chance to see, or you share how much is being done, or see the change that’s going on.

A sector supporting New Zealand through tough times.

I think that urban-rural split has always been a risk in New Zealand and it’s one we can’t afford to give airtime too. Because, frankly, if you just thought that even in the COVID period, if we had not had a strong agricultural sector during the last three years when the global economy had been disrupted, New Zealand’s position economically would be far more dire than it is at the moment.

Tourism collapsed, a number of other productive areas were compromised and yet agriculture was able to carry a huge proportion of the earnings, as it’s always done. But thankfully, on a strong commodity cycle at this particular time, and again, I think we should name the value of agricultural exports. The effort agriculture puts into the New Zealand economy to support our way of life, in a broad, holistic sense – not a them and us sense.

We’re in this together, being the best we can be at home and selling the best we can abroad in a best practice sense. I think if we keep sharing that over and over again, there’ll be a better understanding between rural and urban communities.

Leadership needs to reflect the people on the ground.

Bryan: Just touching on what you mentioned earlier about how historically, people like Federated Farmers, organisations like that, had a very, kind of a, grassroots focus. It’s quite evident at the moment around the emissions pricing process that a large number of those grassroots farmers think that the farming leadership has, if not deserted them, then certainly not represented them well. What’s your take on how they go about that? And what are the challenges that those farming leaders have in engaging with the government on things like this?

Dame Jenny: Well look, I’d be the last one to criticise them because I know how hard it is. I have admired the agricultural leadership, that they have taken a more inclusive, let’s find solutions together approach. I have been involved in a number of significant working parties not only on emissions, but in a number of areas that I can think of which I’ve simply been a distant observer. But I’ve noticed that level of engagement.

The problem is, in any leadership model, if you aren’t both working with, and then reflecting the people on the ground who actually live agriculture every day and have to implement the stuff, not only physically but also economically, then you have to test whether your leadership is in isolation as opposed to being able to carry people forward.

I do think we have to support the leadership group because unless they are able to foot it with the officials and the government ministers and be supported at that level, then they’re clearly not serving their constituency anyway. But every organisation, and I don’t want to make a judgment on Federated Farmers because I simply am not close enough to it, but there have to be systems where it’s not only consultation.

Often we say, well, we consulted, or we sent out a document and gave them a chance to comment. I think that for people to genuinely become supporters of a regime, they have to have a deep sense of ownership. They need to be able to see themselves in whatever is proposed as opposed to seeing something being imposed on them, which they don’t or can’t relate to.

So the test of high quality engagement and consultation has got to be that measure of – can the people we’re representing see themselves in the proposed solutions or are we just saying, well, regardless of what you think, you’ve got to be there in five or ten years’ time. That’s not easy to do. I think in New Zealand’s circumstances, whether it’s agriculture or Maori – Pakeha relations, or any of the other demanding spaces, we’ve just got to put the time and work into it.

The power of industry at the highest level of decision-making.

Bryan: Now, just digging into that a little more. I mean, you were obviously in central government for a long time. What’s it like in those meetings with industry? How much power do the industry leaders from the agricultural community have when they sit down around the table with the likes of MPs, Prime Ministers, officials?

Dame Jenny: The answer is, it depends. And I’m thinking back on two or three occasions where the agricultural sector and governments were working intensely. When a government decides, for example, to break up monopolies, I think the conversations are quite demanding.

I recall at the time that we decided to break up a number of public organisations, the electricity sector and of course the dairy industry was in the line of sight. That was never an easy conversation and the agricultural leaders, and particularly the directors of the original company very much resisted that. In those moments, you’ve got to put the economic argument of why these particular sectors needed to be able to face competition, not only in their growers interest, but also in New Zealand’s market in the world. The resilience and flexibility to attract investment.

We were trying to grow the New Zealand economy and grow the efficiency of the New Zealand economy in the world. So to some extent, in those big strategic moments, it’s tense, because sometimes you’ll have agricultural leaders with you as champions. Sometimes you’ll have small players wanting you to act and take on the big players.

So there’s many dynamics going on.

Usually before those moments, if it’s a strategic question, the ministers will have debated the relative merits of this before they go barging in and say, well, look, the government has decided to strategically move forward and create competition in the agricultural marketing sector, or whatever it is. And then you try and engage.

It’s a wee bit like the emissions environment where you’re having to say, look, we have to work out a way in which to change. It is going to be different from what is the case now, so let’s try and work out where the mechanisms are and how we can move forward.

Sometimes you’re responding to requests from the agricultural sector to solve problems and then it’s straightforward. Your meet as equals at the table. You put the facts on the table, you get the officials to work through and come up with a solution. Often in the majority of cases, things just get sorted out. But in the big, complex policy issues, where big change is required, there’s higher degrees of tension, but generally you get there in time.

The Kellogg Programme and leadership pathways.

Bryan: Now, you mentioned to me before we came on that as well as the Kellogg Programme, you’ve been involved in a number of other leadership programmes. Do you think there are good pathways into leadership positions in New Zealand at the moment?

Dame Jenny: The Kellogg Programme is fantastic. I’d encourage any community to keep identifying young leaders and to promote them into those Programmes. Often people think, these people are too young. I must have been, I don’t know, 32 or thereabouts when I went into Kellogg. Often at that stage, you haven’t identified your leadership purpose and your particular intentions as to how you will use your leadership skills. But others often see leadership potential in those young people.

There’s no question that our political environment, our economic and social environment, need younger people coming through all the time in order for us to be able to shape the future successfully. I would encourage people to look for those chances and look for individuals who they can sponsor or promote and make sure they support them. Because often these are the young people, male and female, who have got kids and are trying to run a farm and all that. So the programmes themselves are a big commitment, but it’s worth it.

Supporting leadership development.

The other programme, I was actually involved in establishing, was Rural Women Stepping Out, I think we called it at the beginning. It was run out of Lincoln and was only initially a two or three day – and sometimes only a one day programme.

But it was at a time where there was huge economic stress on many farming communities. Lots of women came and had lots of examples of how women entrepreneurs were establishing small rural businesses to supplement the income of farms at that time.

Much of it was in the cottage industries, or services – many aspects of agriculture. I think that sharing and bringing together helped a lot of those women sustain the pressure of that period. I guess my point here is, rural communities are very important to New Zealand and keeping both men and women well and supporting them to be as engaged as they can be, both in running the farms and running the rural communities of which they’re a part.

Any support in leadership and leadership development is well worth the investment. So whether it’s the leaders at universities or the sponsors that are the companies who make these things happen, so that these families can make the choice, I think agriculture and New Zealand benefit from programmes like Rural Women, the Kellogg Programme and the Field Scholarships. All of those platforms are invaluable in terms of the legacy and the investment that they’ve made.

Bryan: Thanks for listening to Ideas That Grow. This podcast was presented by Farmers Weekly. For more information on Rural Leaders, the Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarships or the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, please visit ruralleaders.co.nz

Katie Vickers: Banking on a sustainable future.

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Ideas That Grow: Katie Vickers: Banking on a sustainable future.

Bryan Gibson – Editor of Farmer’s Weekly.

I’m Bryan Gibson, the Farmers weekly editor. This week, I’m with Katie Vickers. How’s it going?

Katie Vickers – 2019 Kellogg Scholar.

Good, Bryan.

Bryan: And where are you calling in from?

Katie: I’m ringing in from Fairlie today.

Bryan: And that’s where you call home at the moment?

Katie: Yes. Recently moved down here from Christchurch. So getting back into the rural life. But loving it.

Bryan: And you are currently working for Rabobank as a Sustainability Manager, is that right?

Supporting producers through changing times.

Katie: Yes, I am. My role is around helping to support the banks sustainability ambitions and supporting our clients, in what is a reasonably challenging environment out there – just helping and supporting them, understanding what changes are coming and how that will impact their businesses and I guess wrapping our arms around them and helping them through that.

Bryan: You’re right, there’s a lot of stuff going on in that space that farmers have to deal with. So it’s kind of cool that the banks are arm in arm with them facing up to that challenge, isn’t it?

Katie: Yes. And I guess the changes are pretty complex, but we probably need to start thinking slightly differently around how we tackle some of those challenges.

One of the reasons I wanted to work for a bank was that you can see that they’ve got quite a strong lead in terms of how they can support clients. I guess at Rabobank we’re committed to the agri-sector and I love that kind of passion they’ve got for the sector.

Our role is around how we support them, but also how we link them up with the right knowledge and networks. Because it’s such a complex topic and so different for every farming system. So it’s important for us to be able to understand their unique needs and make sure that we’ve got the right toolkit to support them in making good decisions for their business.

Researching food nutrients on Kellogg Programme.

Bryan: Have you always worked in the agri-food sector or is it something you’ve evolved into over time?

Katie: No, I’ve always been in the agri-sector. I grew up on a sheep and beef farm just north of Kaikoura, went to Lincoln University and then decided after Lincoln, that I definitely wanted to stay in the agri-sector.

So I managed to land a job at Farmland’s Cooperative, and I worked there for eight years. About six of those years was actually in marketing, so I’ve come from a marketing and comms background and then spent my last two years there in a sustainability role. Then just recently moved to the bank, so it’s been an awesome journey.

Bryan: Now, while that was going on, you applied yourself to the Kellogg Programme, and you took a look at nutrients in food. Is that correct?

Producing food to positively impact human and the planet’s health.

Katie: Yes. So my topic was around putting the food back into food. The question I was looking to answer was what would it take for our primary industry to produce nutrient dense food? I think the reason why I wanted to explore that was I’ve always been brought up with a really holistic approach. I care deeply about the health of our planet and health of our people.

I’ve got a twin sister who is a holistic health practitioner, so she works on the how do we help people’s health, because we’ve got a massive crisis in that space.

So my passion has always been, what role does agriculture have to play in that? How do we work with our soils better to influence the food that we eat, which in turn influences the health of our people? It’s a massive topic. It was hard to even scratch the surface on a lot of that stuff.

I did a lot of interviews and research with soil scientists, nutritionists and industry leaders, and I got some really cool insights out of that. No real answers, but lots of different things to consider.

Bryan: People would think the food that New Zealand food producers make is nutrient dense and natural and grass fed and all that sort of thing already. So is there more that can be done at the farm level to enhance that?

Kellogg research and the impact of soil on the food we produce.

Katie: I’m not an expert in this space and I will never claim to be, but my thinking was really expanded when I read Nicole Masters’ book – For the Love of Soil. She talks about the relationship that we have with the soil. In this day and age, there’s so much more we’re learning about the soil and the microbiology of the soil, and the knowledge we have of that is growing.

As we understand more, we need to do more on-farm. So the role that my research played was understanding that today we use a lot of synthetic fertiliser, and we have quite a strong reliance on that, and that hasn’t been a terrible thing, but moving forward, how do we understand how to use our soils better so we don’t need to have such a reliance on some of those synthetic inputs coming into our farm systems.

I you look at the kind of environment we’re in today with the rising input costs, it’s about how do we create more resilient farming systems, and having a different lens on what that might look like in the future. So the research I did was, okay, how do we understand our soil more to understand the impact it has on the food that we produce?

Bryan: And what sort of insights did you get from some of the people you interviewed?

The shift to quality over quantity and premium pricing.

Katie: One of the really interesting ones I did, I didn’t actually interview him, but I did a whole lot of research on the work that Dan Kittredge has done out of the States. He’s got a business called The BioNutrient Food Association.

His role is looking at some tools consumers could use in the future to be able to scan Apple A and Apple B as an example and see the different nutrient composition of those apples and therefore make a decision as to why they might be paying $2 more for Apple A because it’s got a higher nutrient profile.

Those tools aren’t in market and in bulk yet, but I have absolutely no doubt they will be in the future. So that’s the kind of thing could change the landscape of farming, when consumers have got the power in their wallet to be able to make those decisions, to say, well, you know, I want to know why I’m paying more for this apple, because I’m getting the nutrients that I need. With that, you’re hoping there’s been less environmental degradation to produce that product, whether that be apples or meat or whatever.

Bryan: Yes, I guess that sort of thinking has become more prevalent with the pandemic, with people really thinking a lot about what they eat and keeping their base level health as high as it can be. So it’s really top of mind for a lot of people.

A food system under stress.

Katie: For sure. I think it’s pretty obvious our food system is under stress. And whether it’s talking about a climate crisis, a human health crisis or health crisis, a biodiversity collapse, there’s all these different things that play in to each other. One of the key points I like to think about is that we don’t want to look at these things in isolation.

If you look at the human health crisis we’ve got, and even the latest pandemic, these pieces have a real interconnectedness and it’s quite a different way to think about it.

I think the more that we think about the connection between the crisis of our planet and the crisis of our human health at the moment, it might help us to think differently around how we handle these things in the future.

Bryan: That sort of thinking ticks a few boxes at once, as you say. It can do more for people’s health – and a focus on soil can also do more in terms of freshwater quality and in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity. All sorts of things do come together as one.

A lot of people, when you talk about, say, regenerative agriculture or related fields, a farmer might say, well, I’ve yet to see the value-add for me. So if I’m going to reduce production to adopt these things, I need to make that up somewhere else.

So how does a sustainability manager at Rabobank approach these things?

Planting seeds – one conversation at time.

Katie: That’s a great question. I guess my personal mission is to just plant little seeds in people’s minds around how they think about these things. I guess I’ve always believed that you’ve just got to approach it conversation by conversation and people will take different things from the conversations that they have with you.

My role at the bank, is to just support and understanding and what role Rabobank needs to play in this space and how we support our clients. That’s going to look different for every client we have.

We have some clients that are in the regenerative space and really loving it and seeing benefits. We’ve got others that will want to be exploring it and others are saying, that’s not for me – there’s no right or wrong, it’s just how do we help create resilient farming systems in the future and make sure that people are profitable, sustainable and enjoying the life they lead. Because at the end of the day, if they’re not doing that, there’s not a huge amount of value in it.

So I guess my role is just to have these conversations and I see business having a really important role in influencing the way we think. And as a young leader, I guess we can help create the future and it’s important that we are part of that. I want to be part of creating that future.

Katie Vickers, Kellogger, Rabobank Sustainability Manager.

Bryan: I guess Rabobank being a global, agriculturally focused bank would have a sort of a long term view and a strategy around where things are going and what needs to be done to continue to do business in this space. So that would feed into a lot of the work that you’re doing?

Katie: Yeah. We are lucky to have that global aspect. I guess it’s one of the pros of working for such an awesome business because we’ve got all these insights from across the globe to help our thinking. But I definitely reckon New Zealand is leading the way, particularly in the climate space and understanding at a farm systems level, what we’re dealing with.

Bryan: Yeah, it is. And another thing I guess we need to remember is that it’s not just a value proposition, it’s increasingly become a cost of entry and market access, isn’t it?

Katie: Yeah. I was late with that because I’m not a technical expert, but I come from a marketing background but when you have tricky conversations with people who might not agree with some of the changes that are happening, or are struggling to comprehend it, which I totally empathise with.

One of the pieces I always lead with is the market. We export 90% of what we produce here in New Zealand. So whether we like it or not, what’s happening, what consumers are demanding and what the market is saying, is really important to how we respond. So we have to understand those market signals to make sure we’re producing what’s going to be valuable and what’s needed from our customers.

Bryan: Yes, I used to work a little bit in PR as well, (we used) the old adage, if you’re explaining, you’re losing, quite often. It’s got to be obvious and it’s got to be transparent. You’ve got to front foot these things, otherwise someone will front foot it for you.

Katie: Exactly.

Bryan: So what made you apply to the Kellogg Programme in the first place?

Kellogg, equipping today’s leaders for tomorrow’s challenges.

Katie: It was part of my development plan when I was at Farmlands, and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to do the Programme. It was such an important time … the Programme really helped to widen my thinking around what influence business could have in helping to solve some of the challenges I could see coming in the agriculture sector. Having the opportunity to do that was just incredible.

I know that I probably wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t had the opportunity to do that Programme. I guess it was the people we were exposed to and the time that was carved out to really explore some of the ideas that came up – that was the really valuable stuff for me.

Bryan: I’ve been to one or two of those Kellogg alumni conferences, and just the feeling in the room is quite different to a lot of places. You know what I mean? There’s such a good sort of camaraderie between the alumni of the Programme.

Staying connected with the Kellogg network.

Katie: Yes. I think for me, I’m a people person, so the connections with people in the industry were just phenomenal. Even now, if I really want to talk to X, Y or Z to find some information and you said you did Kellogg, people are so willing to talk to you. I guess it just gives you the opportunity to speak to people who will challenge your thinking.

As I’ve grown up and matured, I love having that. I love having people who will challenge my own thinking because it helps deepen my knowledge and my thoughts. Being able to have the opportunity or the exposure to speak to different people and have different perspectives is just so invaluable.

Bryan: Thanks for listening to Ideas That Grow, a Rural Leaders Podcast in partnership with Massey and Lincoln University AgMardt and FoodHQ.

Ben Todhunter: Farming, conservation and Nuffield.

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Ideas That Grow: Ben Todhunter, 2006 Nuffield Scholar.

Bryan Gibson – Editor of Farmer’s Weekly.

I am Bryan Gibson, the Farmer’s Weekly Editor, and this week I’m joined by Ben
Todhunter. How’s it going?

Ben Todhunter – 2006 Nuffield Scholar, Rakaia, Canterbury.

Yeah, good thanks Bryan. Yep.

Farming, Conservation and Nuffield.

Bryan: And where are you calling in from?

Ben: I’m at home on the farm, Cleardale on the Rakaia Gorge, about an hour west of Christchurch.

Bryan: Your family’s been there a while, I understand.

Ben: We’ve been here for close to a hundred years. The boundaries have moved around a little bit in that time, but yeah. I’m the fourth generation farming this location.

Bryan: Can you tell us a little bit about the place, what your farm looks like and what you farm?

Ben: So we’re on the north slopes of Mt Hutt. The farm runs down to the Rakaia River. It’s got a big chunk of boundary with the Rakaia River. It’s got loessal soils, thousand mill rainfall, lies to the northeast – so it’s got a good aspect. It’s well located, running about five and a half thousand ewes and 300 breeding cows, finishing all replacements. We do a little bit of cropping, milling wheat and feed barley and a significant genetic business in sheep and cattle.

Bryan: So a pretty big operation.

Ben: A lot of farms are getting bigger nowadays, but yeah, there’s a lot going on and it takes a bit of keeping the moving parts ticking away and working properly.

Bryan: Have you been involved in the family farm right through, or have you been away and done other stuff?

Ben: Been back on the farm since about 1992. I’ve been overseas, did a Master’s in Dublin and I’ve worked for an Irish dairy cooperative. Done a bit of farm work in other parts of the world and worked on other farms. My father’s hips were buggered and I gave him a hand, then and I did a little bit of lecturing at university while I was trying to farm, but I’ve been at home ever since.

Nuffield Scholarship - integration of conservation into farming.

Bryan: We were talking before we came on about your Nuffield Scholarship report. You did it a little while ago now, when was that?

Ben: 2006.

Bryan: You took a look at integrating conservation into farm systems. Can you tell me a little bit about why you chose that?

Ben: Yeah, absolutely. At that stage I was representing high country farmers/pastoral lease farmers in their battles with the Crown really. Helen Clark was very keen on a network of high-country parks. The model that was being explored at that stage was to separate conservation and farming.

I thought the model was wrong. It didn’t fit high-country landscapes at all. So I wanted to look at that model and how it was carried out in other parts of the world to see if there was anything I could bring back that we might be able to learn from to help those farmers.

Bryan: From my reading, you mentioned some work that was going on in the United States that seemed like it was achieving the right results.

Ben: The bits that were interesting to me were if you look at how the conservation-farmer battles go in our country, if a conservationist like Fish and Game or Forest and Bird wants to get an outcome, they almost have to paint the existing owners of the land or of a property in a bad light so that they get some legislation change.

So it becomes a contentious battle. And that’s a bit how the system is. So the insight that I got in the states was more around where there’s clear property rights and those actors or participants are forced to talk to each other and then they will negotiate, inform outcomes that benefit both people rather than becoming polarised positions. So I think that principle was quite a useful one to carry forward. If you understand what I mean when I say that.

Bryan: Totally. In some ways, a lot of people want the same things, but it’s better to sit down with the other affected party and map a positive path forward rather than tell on them and try and get someone else to hit them with a stick, I guess.

Learning from the United States.

Ben: Yeah, very much so. You do have to remember the history of the settlement for each place in that respect. So when the west was settled in the States, it was settled around the rivers and those sort of places and that was where a lot of the biodiversity was, so their ownership vested with the farmers.

Whereas in New Zealand, a lot of the biodiversity has been retained in the wild areas, so slightly different settlement, but I think the principles are still reasonably applicable going forward.

So some of the really good outcomes you got through there were spawning habitat for fish, ensuring there was sufficient water in the creek at those times. So paying the irrigators not irrigate at that time, but the owner needed to pay them in the dry years. So it created quite fixable solutions and reasonably efficient solutions to some problems without the contention and those things we seem to get in our discussions.

Bryan: And in the time since you wrote this, how do you think things have been? Is there any change for better or worse?

Conservation and finding the value add.

Ben: I’m optimistic there’s been a slight maturing of approaches between NGOs. I’m not sure that the farmers themselves have matured in their approach on how to deal with some of these things.

One of the solutions that I looked at was market-based solutions to some of these issues where you’d pay a higher price for products. And that’s a bit of what we’re working with through the New Zealand Merino Company, to try and link positive climate action on the ground through to customers. That’s something that I’ve always been interested in, but it does seem really hard to get and maintain a premium for that over time.

Bryan: That is something that a lot in the farming world debate whether the value add is actually there for doing some of the sustainability and traceability and all that sort of thing.

Ben: So with a lot of the wool that we’re getting from Merino, we are getting significant premiums for the ethical wool that’s treated with good animal welfare standards in the current market. So there are some premiums with specific customers at certain times.

Bryan: That’s good to hear. So what made you want to do a Nuffield Scholarship? What drew you to it?

Why Nuffield?

Ben: I’ve always been interested in what happens outside of New Zealand in a wider sphere of the world. I probably didn’t have the capacity to do it at the time, but you probably never do. I always enjoy being around people that like to make change, that actually make things happen and think about the world and have got some energy to do that. The Nuffield people are certainly people who will question things and can make change.

Bryan: The actual travel and that sort of thing, the process of doing it, what was that like?

Ben: Vaughan Templeton was the other scholar in that year, we had a conference in the Netherlands in the Rabobank headquarters and met all the other Nuffield scholars from around the world. That was an amazing experience. Then we traveled for six weeks through Europe, the States and Canada with a bunch of Australians in a minivan – an amazing experience as well.

You get into a whole lot of agricultural businesses, spend a week in Washington, D.C. learning how that country operates – or doesn’t operate. Going to some of the bigger flower markets in the Netherlands like the Ellesmere Flower Market. The Dutch people are really good at logistics.

Looking at the scale of the agricultural production that happens in America and the scale of the systems and the specialisation that goes on in some of those businesses compared to our generalisation over here. Understanding from the other farmers that the issues are common around the world. Labour, environmental impacts, markets, profitability, succession, all those issues are common in some respects. So learning about that and stuff. It’s an amazing experience.

Bryan: Thanks for listening to Ideas That Grow. This podcast was presented by Farmers Weekly. For more information on Rural Leaders, the Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarships, or the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, please visit ruralleaders.co.nz.

The 2023 Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit.

Forefront - Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit

The 2023 Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit theme ‘Forefront’ reflects focus on the businesses making change and providing solutions to some of the sector’s biggest challenges and opportunities.

The Summit seeks to promote global vision, leadership and innovation by demonstrating some of the practical solutions shown to mitigate the challenges facing agribusiness today.

The Summit begins with a welcome and scene setting session snapshotting the imperative for change and the opportunities landscape.

Guest speakers for this session include, Devry Boughner Vorwerk, CEO DevryBV.

This opening session is designed to supercharge the discussion sessions to come, organised into three key streams:

Our World - Our Natural Environment

10-11:45am

This session explores leadership and innovation in the advancement and restoration of the natural resources critical to the future of agribusiness.

The session showcases those champions nurturing the environment while also remaining profitable. The session will also have a circular economy thread, exploring businesses redesigning food chains to remove waste and reuse product not consumed.

Guest speakers will include:

Lain Jager, Chair, Te Puna Whakaaronui (NZ Primary Sector Think Tank)

Volker Kuntzsch, CEO, Cawthorn Institute

Followed by a panel discussion facilitated by Corin Dann.

Our People - Consumer Trends and Trade

12:45-2:30pm

The focus of this session will be on 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.

Delegates will be able to seize on the learnings of agri-food and consumer businesses meeting the challenges of fast-changing demographics, food trends and changes in consumer values.

It also explores the opportunities that may arise for agribusiness as we experience a convergence of changing world population demographics and more transparent trade policy.

Guest speakers will include:

Vangelis Vitalis, Deputy Secretary Trade and Economic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Tom Sturgess, owner of Lone Star Farms

And a panel discussion facilitated by Corin Dann.

Our Future - Entrepreneurship & Leadership

3:00-4:30pm

The third session will concentrate on the future, social, economic and environmental wellbeing of agribusiness. The session will cover the areas where value will be derived in generations to come, showcasing world-leading business case studies and responsive new business models.

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

Guest speakers so far include:

Traci Houpapa, MNZM

Angus Brown, ,

As with the previous two sessions, Corin Dann will facilitate a panel discussion.

To close out the day’s schedule, there will be a wrap-up focussing some of the key takeaways and action commitments.

This will run from 4:30 to 5:15pm and precede a networking drinks opportunity.

Agribusiness Summit Dinner

7-10:30pm

Featuring Special Guest Speakers – Hon Minister Damien O’Connor and Te Radar.

We’ll provide more information on the Summit, networking and dinner in the coming weeks across our networks as well as our Rural Leaders and Programmes social media pages.

For Summit and Dinner prices and bookings visit https://au.eventscloud.com/agribusinesssummit

2022 Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarship Awards.

2022 Nuffield Scholars and Rural Leaders Board of Trustees

On Wednesday evening Rural Leaders hosted the 2022 Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarship Awards in Wellington. This was an opportunity to formally award scholarships to Parmindar Singh, Lucie Douma and Anthony Taueki – a year later than planned.

While it was a smaller occasion than it might have been, it was no less important. Hon. Minister Damien O’Connor, was again generous with his time. A special thank you to our Strategic Partners, Agmardt, DairyNZ, Beef+LambNZ, Mackenzie Charitable Trust, and FMG too, for their ongoing support and their help in making the evening a success.

The conversation with Partners, Hon. Damien O’Connor, Rural Leaders’ Board members (some pictured with the Scholars above), and the 2022 Nuffield Scholars themselves, was immensely enriching and overwhelmingly positive.

The evening also provided an opportunity to thank the NZ Rural Leadership Trust Board’s Ariana Estoras – Independent Trustee and Natalie Bowie – Associate Trustee, for their commitment, expertise, and service as they step down.

The positive impact of Nuffield on the Food and Fibre Sector.

Kate Scott, NZ Rural Leaders’ Trust Board Chair, spoke of Nuffield’s impact, with statistics from the Mackenzie Study, a Rural Leaders’ collaboration with The Otago University School of Business. Some key statistics mentioned include:

Nuffield Scholars hold and average of 14 senior leadership roles over their career.
Over 40% have served in government leadership roles.
During their careers, on average, each Scholar will hold 4 or more board positions.
Each Scholar has created an average of 3.3 businesses.
And each creates an average of 48 FTE roles.

In addressing Rural Leaders’ Partners Kate said, “That is the measurable impact of your support for us and of the support we are trying to give back to our sector.”

Acknowledging the disruptive times we are in, Kate Scott said that the need for exceptional leadership remains more critical than ever. Adding that New Zealand agriculture both here and globally, is again more important than it has ever been, “Especially as we look to embark on our journey of Taiao ora, Tangata ora – if the natural world is healthy, so too are the people”, added Kate Scott.

Kate also spoke to the need for stronger collaboration, before introducing the Hon. Minister Damien O’Connor. The Minister acknowledged both Chris Parsons, Rural Leaders’ CEO and Kate Scott, for their hard work and energy before giving an informative talk about the value of Nuffield and the New Zealand Primary Sector’s place in the world.

Nuffield Scholar’s research topics - fit for a fast-changing food system.

Each of the 2022 Scholars gave updates on the progress and direction of their research. It was a first chance for many to hear from the Scholars themselves.

Anthony Taueki, 2022 Nuffield Scholar.

Of his research Anthony Taueki, explained that his topic ‘Pathways for the Primary Industries from the grassroots up’, had gone through many different moulds. Anthony is focussing on the vocational transition from high school to career, with particular attention to those facing challenges within the current system.

He explained that what was currently defining his research on career pathways, were the questions, “Can you provide me with positive pathways? Can you provide me with positive culture? Can you provide me with pastoral care? And perhaps most powerfully, “Can you see me?”

Anthony discussed the need for decision makers to collaborate, to break down the silos that exist in order to create one consistent message, to create positive sector career opportunities for all New Zealanders, “We shouldn’t be above our people, we should be beside them”, Said Anthony.

Lucie Douma, 2022 Nuffield Scholar.

Lucie spoke about how her research topic ‘Data Interoperability’ will look closely at what data farmers need to be making the decisions they need to make to meet our regulatory and environmental requirements.

However, as Lucie explained, after beginning her already extensive travel both with the Contemporary Scholars Conference and independently too, the focus of her research was evolving. Lucie explained that the UK and Europe, as a consequence of the pandemic and lockdown, have moved significantly, with rises in food activism and groups facing food challenges.

Lucie elucidated, that a contributing factor here is that consumers are even more disconnected from their food system. Lucie believes data may provide some solutions here.

Parmindar Singh, 2022 Nuffield Scholar.

Finally, Parmindar Singh spoke of her pride at being a fourth generation dairy farmer and of the responsibility she has to her family before her. Parmindar’s research will look at export markets for our dairy products. It will aim to unpack what our future export markets might look like, especially given our current reliance on just a few.

“I’ll focus on three potential markets. The first is Japan. The second is Singapore. The third is the United Arab Emirates. All very different, though all gateway markets”, explained Parmindar.

Parmindar went on to add that her research will focus on how people consume dairy in these countries, look into their culture, their economics and how the political context impacts social stability in these countries.

The 2023 Nuffield Scholars announced in two months.

As the 2022 Scholars now progress with their travel and research, a new group of Food and Fibre Sector leaders have started their journey to selection to the 2023 cohort.

We’ll announce the selected 2023 Scholars in November, when the next Nuffield Awards are to be held.

CEO update on Kellogg accreditation.

A message from our CEO Chris Parsons, MNZM, DSD, CMinstD.

As the year flies by all too fast, I thought it good to pause a moment to highlight a key development that we have been working on for just over a year and to acknowledge some of the achievements that Nuffield and Kellogg Scholars and the NZ Rural Leaders family have made over the last 12 months. 

Firstly, Kellogg Scholars have embraced the opportunity to obtain a Post Graduate Certificate alongside their Kellogg qualification. This is an opt-in opportunity and to date 98% of Kelloggers have.

We would like to acknowledge Lincoln University for offering the chance for food and fibre leaders to gain this additional value. 

We’d like to acknowledge Massey University too, for recognising Kellogg for up to 60 post-graduate credits applied to further learning in both their business school and college of sciences.

We are on track for 62 Scholars to concurrently achieve a Post Graduate Certificate by the end of the year!

This achievement marks the two-year anniversary of The Pāhautea Initiative – a partnership between Lincoln University, Massey University, the Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust (AGMARDT) and Rural Leaders.

The initiative focuses on lifting education levels across the sector and building deeper leadership benches in the regions, with the aim of creating a sustainable future for food and fibre. Accreditation of core programmes is key to delivering on the partnership’s purpose.

If one of your neighbours or a work mate is considering becoming a Kellogg Scholar and opting in for the PG Cert, the good news is they do not need a prior degree to enrol for the PG Cert, we will work with you and Lincoln on admission requirements.

Previous Kellogg Scholars (at this stage, from 2014 onwards) can apply for recognition of prior learning from Lincoln and Massey Universities, by contacting Lisa Rogers at lisarogers@ruralleaders.co.nz

Finally, we’d like to acknowledge all those of you who have been selected to Boards, started businesses, led transformation, or helped your communities and environments.

Rural scholarship is all about creating impact – we get reports almost daily of alumni who are improving the sector and standing up to be counted.

Thank you for all you do!

The Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme has been developing leaders for the rural and agri-food sector since 1979.

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The Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarship is one of the most valued awards in New Zealand’s primary sector.

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Our Alumni

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Innovating for our fast-changing value chains.

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Fast-track your food and fibre skills, knowledge, and confidence.

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Develop horticulture-specific leadership knowledge and skills.

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Craige Mackenzie and Michael Tayler step down - Murray King and Steve Wilkins join Boards.

Steve Wilkins, 2013 Nuffield Scholar.

Murray King, 2003 Nuffield Scholar.

One farm, five generations of farmers.

The Nuffield experience.

Glyphosate use in New Zealand.

Glyphosate use overseas.

Glyphosate application rates in NZ compared to abroad.

Glyphosate as a strategic farming tool.

Taking the Nuffield research to the people.

Nuffield, Kellogg and giving back to the Sector.

The main issues facing arable farmers.

“It’s not all beer and skittles out there.”

A new partnership with Purdue and Lincoln Universities.

The Rural Reader – Book reviews by Dr Patrick Aldwell.

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

The 2023 Nuffield Triennial Conference in images.

Our World: Our Natural Environment.

Erica van Reenen: Climate Change 101.

Karin Stark: The Power of On-Farm Renewables.

Tom Sturgess: Balancing the Needs.

Volker Kuntzsch: Algae and the Blue Wave Economy.

Our People: Consumer Trends and Trade.

Vangelis Vitalis: New Zealand Agriculture and Global Trade.

Lain Jager: GM and the Future of Agriculture.

Emma Parsons: Managing Sustainability and Change.

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

Our Future: Entrepreneurship and Leadership.

Chris Parsons: Developing our Future Leaders.

John Penno: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Mark MacLeod-Smith: Modern farming – Thinking Differently.

Dr Ellen Joan Nelson: The Future of Work.

Julia Jones: Working Together for the Greater Good.

2020 Scholars

2021 Scholars

2022 Scholars

2023 Scholars

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Welcome Scene Setting

Devry Boughner Vorwerk CEO, DevryBV Sustainable Strategies

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

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

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

Consolidation and Wrap Up

Programme Innovations

Projects

Presence and Partnerships

Promote Thought Leadership

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

The Kellogg Programme’s three phases – Phase One.

Kellogg Phase Two.

Kellogg Phase Three.

What to expect on Kellogg.

The Kellogg Final Research Project.

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

What academic support is available to Kellogg Scholars?

Kellogg Programme Director Scott Champion – background.

New Zealand and the path to Kellogg.

Common challenges beyond the boundary fence.

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

The Kellogg Programme in 2023.

The Rural Reader – Book reviews by
Dr Patrick Aldwell.