The Road to Rural

Serving farmers for a career - Madison Pannett

Originally growing up on a sheep and beef farm in Central Otago, Madison first wanted to be a diplomat, but after being given an opportunity in their graduate programme, she eventually found herself in the role of Animal Welfare Sector Liaison for the Ministry for Primary Industries. Her day-to-day role mainly consists of helping explain complicated legislation to busy farmers in a way that ensures that they can understand and comply with new rules. She says that what is most important to her about the role is that she is serving farmers and making life easier for them on a daily basis.

Two top trainee's tell us all about rural contracting

Our latest episode of Road to Rural is a bit different from the rest, but all the more interesting. We catch up with two young rural contractors, Mat Peart and Josh Chittock, who are at the top of their field and they tell us why they love their jobs, what attracts them to the machinery and what a day typically looks like for each of them. Mat and Josh recently took out the North and South Island top trainee's of the year awards at the recent Rural Contractors association of NZ inaugural trainee of the year awards.

Understanding the foundations of farming as an agri-banker - Jack MacFarlane

In our latest episode of Road to Rural we catch up with Jack MacFarlane, who works as an agri-manager for Rabobank. Jack grew up rurally on a sheep and beef farm in North Canterbury, and he says his strong desire to understand the financial aspects and decision making behind successful farm-businesses, led him into a career in rural banking. Armed with a Bachelor of Agri-Commerce from Lincoln University, Jack says he was persistent in reaching out to local area managers for coffees, and eventually his persistence paid off when he landed a role.

Making her mark in the primary sector | Hiraina Tangiora

When growing up and trying to decide on a career path, Hiriana initially looked to a career in business or law, never really considering the agriculture industry which she credits to a lack of awareness of opportunities. After completing a degree at Lincoln University followed by a short stint at Zespri, Hiriana is now a Senior Policy Analyst at the Ministry for the Primary Industries, where she’s managing projects, writing policy and developing people.

A career as a milk supply manager and why it ticks all the boxes - Sarj Singh

After leaving school, like many others growing up Sarj didn’t really know exactly what he wanted to do as a career. That was until a chance meeting on the family dairy farm when Sarj met an Open Country Milk Supply Manager, and decided that was something he was interested in. Fast forward to two-and-a-half years later, Sarj has a newfound passion for the dairy industry and is enjoying all the things that come with the farmer-facing role of a Milk Supply Manager for Open Country Dairy.