Calling all graduates with an interest in the arable industry. FAR’s 12 month graduate programme offers a chance to gain a thorough grounding in all aspects of the arable industry while working within it, but applications close at the beginning of August, so anyone interested needs to get in soon.
FAR CEO Nick Pyke says the programme is open to recent graduates with a degree in science, agriculture or agricultural commerce who want a career working with some of the world’s best cropping farmers.
“Our graduate programme provides the opportunity to learn about all aspects of the New Zealand cropping industry, spend time with experienced agronomists and internationally recognised researchers and make connections in the cropping industry throughout New Zealand.”
Current graduates Tim Brooker and Sophie Blair agree that exposure to numerous people, crops and organisations within the arable field and having their own projects to work on were some of the key reasons for applying.
Tim, who grew up around dairying on the West Coast, graduated from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours) and is focused on working in the arable industry. He says the graduate programme has provided a good introduction to cropping and a direction for future endeavours. His project is a monitor farm, focussed on economic and environmental sustainability of farming businesses. It will provide financial and physical benchmarks for farmers to help make decisions. It will also demonstrate how plot-level research transfers to field-scale farming.
Sophie is from a mid-Canterbury sheep, cropping and dairy support farm, graduated from Massey University with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Agricultural Science and Animal Science. The programme has broadened her arable knowledge and offered personal development opportunities and experiences that will help in the industry. Her project is looking at the nitrate concentration in groundwater across the area between the Ashburton and Rakaia Rivers, east of SH1. The aim is to develop a greater understanding of nitrate concentrations with depth, sub regionally, seasonally and over time.
Application forms are available here or by contacting the FAR office.