2026 Nuffield NZ Farming Scholarship. Apply by 17 August 2025. Read More...
Apply for 2026 Nuffield NZ Farming Scholarship by 17 August 2025. More details...
Craig Mackenzie, 2008 Nuffield Scholar, recently featured in the Irrigation NZ News, Autumn 2020 edition (see page 16).
With knowledge about climate change and the environment, farming for the future is a passion for Craige.
Read the full article here ‘Climate change: A Farmer’s perspective.’
Nadine is a 2017 Nuffield NZ Scholar and in recent years has been living in Wales.
Earlier this year, she was appointed to the Welsh Red Meat Promotion Board (Hybu Cig Cymru) for a period of three years.
“This position allows me to advance my views on the need for global messaging around red meat with the main players, in the face of a complex and rapidly changing environment”
2020 scholars were just starting Day 1 of their Contemporary Scholars Conference (CSC) and their 15-month programme with 70 other international scholars in Australia when the government announced new border and arrival measures.
The scholars decided to return home the next day and the CSC programme was eventually cancelled three days later as all countries advised their citizens to return home immediately.
We are now looking at how we engage these scholars in one of the greatest learning experiences as we face disruption of the global economy and food production challenges.
At this point their programme will include some international webinars and preparation in New Zealand and potentially Australia. Hopefully international borders will be open again by early-mid 2021.
We intend to select 2021 scholars.
However, the scope and timing of the scholarships will depend on the ability to travel for the programme, the Contemporary Scholars Conference and the six-week Global Focus Programme going ahead as scheduled. Potentially we could have two groups of scholars travelling in 2021.
Suffice to say, the team and Trustees are focused on finding safe ways for 2021 scholars to travel and learn. Assuming that is possible, it will be important for New Zealand to have scholars assessing the changes to the international agri-sector and bring those lessons home for the benefit of all.
Cameron Henderson (2019 Nuffield Scholar) used his Nuffield Scholarship to explore links between agriculture and energy and how technology can work to harness farmed energy sources including waste matter to supply national energy needs.
Read the full Farmers Weekly article.
Listen to the interview on Sarah’s Country (12th May 2020).
Click here to read Cameron’s Report ‘Farming Energy: Opportunities to help NZ reach net zero carbon 2050’.
For more than 40 years glyphosate has been an invaluable chemical weapon in farmers’ arsenal as a low-residue, safe and simple weed control enabling greater flexibility and less soil disturbance.
Canterbury arable farmer Hamish Marr devoted his Nuffield Scholarship to examining how glyphosate fell from grace in the public eye and what farmers can to do to preserve it as an invaluable crop treatment.
Read the full article in the Farmers Weekly.
Click here to listen to Hamish’s interview on Sarah’s Country (30th April).
Click here to read Hamish Marr’s research report ‘Can we farm without glyphosate?’
Trish Rankin, Taranaki farmer and 2019 Dairy Woman of the Year recently attended the annual agribusiness seminar at Harvard Business School in the United States.
What she heard was astonishing.
What she said shocked them.
Wayne Langford and Siobhan O’Malley have just launched their new charity that allows farmers to donate fresh meat to help feed New Zealand’s most vulnerable.
Wayne joined Sarah Perriam on Sarah’s Country recently to talk about their latest venture ‘Meat The Need NZ.’
Wayne and Siobhan are both Kelloggers, Wayne completing the Kellogg Programme in 2014 and Siobhan in 2018.
Congratulations to Shepherdess editor Kristy McGregor on the first issue of Shepherdess Magazine.
There has never been a better time for this magazine which aims to connect, empower and inspire rural women.
We are pleased to announce that Chris Parsons joined us on Monday, 4th May as our new CEO. Chris was recently interviewed by Rural News and would like to convey the following message:
“To all of you on the journey to develop your leadership, well done! It is a transformative journey. The learnings you absorb over the Kellogg course will have life long impact, not only improving the quality of your connections with others but also in multiplying your ability for positive impact. Leadership is a life-long journey and I look forward to journeying with you. “
At the end of April we farewelled Anne Hindson who has led Rural Leaders from its inception. Her early pioneering work with Patrick Aldwell and Richard Green and Tony Zwart has been critical to the coordination of the iconic Nuffield and Kellogg Leaders programmes and their continual modernisation to ensure that modern scholars get world class leadership development.
We were sad to see Anne go, but grateful for her vision and commitment to the primary sector and Rural Leaders over the last six years.
At our recent AGM the Rural Leaders Board welcomed Kate Scott (2018 Nuffield Scholar) as a new Trustee, who replaced James Parsons. The Board will also be seeking to elect a new Independent appointed Trustee, following the recent resignation of Louise Webster.
In this podcast interview on ‘Unpopular Farmer’, 2019 Nuffield Scholar, Corrigan Sowman talks about his Nuffield experience and how ‘Social License’ prompted his research topic – ‘Farming in a Pressure Cooker: How pressure impacts farmer decision making.’
Corrigan’s research started off as a technical problem and ended as a social one that farmers have perhaps been predisposed to over generations of high stakes, small margins, uncertainty and fast change, all leading to what he sees as ‘social judgement’.
