Rowarth appointed DairyNZ deputy chair
DairyNZ has appointed Jacqueline Rowarth as its first deputy board chair.
The winner of the Massey Agricultural Student of the Year prize, DairyNZ scholar Jack van Bussel (20), is planning a future in rural banking.
The award is for the student judged to have made the largest contribution to the wellbeing and reputation of his/her fellow agricultural students.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he says. “When they started describing who the winner was I thought ‘that sounds like me’, but I never really thought it could be. I am honoured to get it, I still can’t believe it and I really appreciate it.”
Van Bussel grew up on a lifestyle block near Whanganui, always out on farms and enjoyed that life. At school he enjoyed accounting and economics so a degree in ag commerce was the obvious option for him.
“I didn’t have the farming experience a lot of the people coming in had. Coming from a lifestyle block definitely gave me a start and it also gave me an open mind. Going into an agricultural degree course sort-of meant that I wasn’t focused on one industry and I could experiment with a lot of industries and find a lot of knowledge throughout the different sectors.”
Van Bussel says he loved university life, not only the academic side but making friends and taking up the other opportunities Massey had to offer. He gained a wealth of knowledge which will equip him well in his new role as a rural banker with Westpac in Hastings.
Van Bussel is grateful to DairyNZ for his three-year scholarship.
“They helped me with my course fees and a lot of other things such as career days, meet-and-greet events and career development. It’s been invaluable.”
He says he’d like to see more emphasis on promoting agriculture as a career because of its importance to the NZ economy. Many Kiwis’ misconceptions about agriculture in the community need to be addressed.
The Rural Change programme, providing free private mental health professional sessions to the rural industry, is set to continue its next chapter within Rural Support Trust from 1 July 2024.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief executive Sam McIvor will step down in July.
A new report shows farm employers across the dairy, sheep and beef, and arable sectors have continued to invest strongly in one of their greatest assets – their staff.
The country’s 4200 commercial fruit and vegetable growers will vote from May 14 on a new HortNZ levy.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
OPINION: Talking about plant-based food: “Chicken-free chicken” start-up Sunfed has had its valuation slashed to zero by major investor Blackbird…
OPINION: Synlait's financial woes won’t be going away anytime soon.