increase font size
Third-year Bachelor of Agricultural Science student Leander Archer is Massey University's Agriculture Student of the Year.
The award is made in recognition of high academic achievement as well as overall contribution to the course and Massey University.
Chairman of the Applied Sciences Scholarships Committee, Dr Kerry Harrington, says Archer has helped increase the reputation of Massey University's horticulture programme and of its students in general.
"She has been actively involved with the Massey University Horticulture Society, has been an enthusiastic helper at Massey Open Days, discussing the virtues of the horticultural programme with prospective students, and also a friendly face to welcome students at the start of the year as a Massey Guide" says Dr Harrington.
Leander comes from the Wellington suburb of Tawa and says she was amazed and didn't expect to win the award.
She says it was a combination of factors that contributed to her doing a degree in hort science. Archer says she's always loved plant biology and was passionate about food as well. She says she combined the two interests and came up with horticulture,
"I did a lot of research into what careers I could choose. One of the reasons for horticulture was the opportunity to work outside or inside if I wanted. It's also an environmental issue for me as well. I feel that I can make a lot of difference here in terms of the way we can feed the world. We are going to have to do it with a lot less land areas soon so we are going to have to make some improvements and ones that don't affect the environment negatively and hopefully positively," she says.
Leander Archer says she's starting a job soon with AgFirst in Hawkes Bay and is looking forward to some good weather.
New research suggests Aotearoa New Zealand farmers are broadly matching phosphorus fertiliser use to the needs of their soils, helping maintain relatively stable nutrient levels across the country’s agricultural land.
William John Poole, a third year Agribusiness student at Massey University, has been awarded the Dr Warren Parker and Pāmu Scholarship.
The head of Massey University's School of Agriculture and the Environment, Professor Paul Kenyon, says the outlook for the primary sector is positive with record numbers of students enrolling for Massey's range of undergraduate courses in the primary sector.
The most successful catchment groups in NZ are those that have 'a source to sea' approach.
Expect greater collaboration between Massey University’s school of Agriculture and Environment and Ireland’s leading agriculture university, the University College of Dublin (UCD), in the future.
Dairy farming in New Zealand offers career progression and this has motivated 2026 Central Plateau Share Farmers of the Year Navdeep Singh and Jobanpreet Kaur.
A partnership between Canterbury milk processor Synlait and the world's largest food producer, Nestlé, has been celebrated with a visit to a North Canterbury farm by a group including senior staff from Synlait, the Ravensdown subsidiary EcoPond, and Nestlé's Switzerland head office.
Canterbury milk processor Synlait is blaming what it calls "a perfect storm" of setbacks for a big loss in its half year result for the six months ended January 31, 2026.
More of the same please, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Karl Dean when asked about who should succeed Miles Hurrell as Fonterra chief executive.
A Waikato farmer who set up a 'tinder' for cows - using artificial intelligence to find the perfect bull for each cow - days the first-year results are better than expected.
Fonterra says it's keeping an eye on the Middle East crisis and its implications for global supply chains.
OPINION: If you ask this old mutt, the choice at the next election isn't shaping up as a contest of…
OPINION: A mate of yours says we're long overdue for a reckoning on what value farmers really get for the…
