Massey University to upskill teachers amid rising ag subject demand
There's been unprecedented demand from secondary school students across the country to study agricultural related subjects.
The Sprout Accelerator programme is amazing, says Powerplant founder Kevin D’Ambros-Smith.
Sprout provides mentoring, coaching, back-up and possible access to investment loans for agritech and food focused entrepreneurs and start-ups.
D’Ambros-Smith says it transformed his business and the Sprout team challenged his assumptions and industry knowledge.
“It introduced us to people. It challenged us on things we hadn’t considered or thought about, it opened our minds,” he told Rural News.
Powerplant is in the development stages of a hydroponics growing system aimed at small to medium commercial growers. It plans to target overseas markets.
The system’s point of difference is its scalability and adaptability to different growing spaces.
“The Sprout Accelerator programme totally pulled apart everything we had assumed, which was great,” D’Ambros-Smith said.
“We walked in there thinking we had something really good and they challenged us and made us realise we didn’t know this or that. Or that we should talk to this person.
“It gave us opportunities we would have taken a lot longer to find ourselves.”
He says he can’t speak highly enough of the course.
“It made us pull back. We would have rushed off and done stuff and wasted a lot more money. From a growing point of view, from a customer point of view, it has just been outstanding.”
D’Ambros-Smith has much experience in successful business start-up, mainly in online retail, and he is from a top Auckland advertising agency background. But he says there was much more to learn. A newcomer to agri, he has now become fascinated with the horticulture and agritech sector.
He says Sprout has been excellent in assisting with both local and international contacts.
D’Ambros-Smith says as a result of the learnings gained in the Sprout Accelerator they have pivoted the business and now have two clear business opportunities they are actively pursuing.
“One of these opportunities came about as a direct result of our Sprout advisor recommending we talk to a specific company as he saw an opportunity for us to work together and made an introduction for us. This led to a totally new business opportunity for our company.
“The team at Sprout are outstanding, with a vast range of knowledge and expertise from agritech through to sales and capital raising,” he said.
“I learnt so much, absorbed so much, it was sensational.”
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
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