increase font size
DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle
THE DAIRY industry is being urged to think about how better to attract and retain the right people.
DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle says the big question is ‘how are we going to compete in the contest for talent with the Western world?’
“Before the global economy recovers – and it will eventually – we need to be thinking about how that pressure might intensify and how we get ahead of the game now.”
He said this last month at the launch of a centre for excellence for agricultural science and business at St Paul’s College, Hamilton. The college has had 48 students trial a pilot curriculum this year with another 85 signed up for next year. Seven other schools are involved and will offer the new subject in 2016.
A $2 million partnership with DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand, and others, is helping pay for the curriculum.
Mackle emphasised the enormous scale of change needed in dairy to meet land and water challenges.
“To get ahead of the game… and move away from reactive mode, we need to move fast and on time. [If we don’t] we will undermine our efforts to climb the value add ladder with our dairy products.
“It will take a substantial number of quality people to deliver the change; skilled farmers and their advisors are at the core.
“This is about jobs for scientists, economists, environmental experts, marketers, communicators, business advisors, strategists, trade experts, geneticists, animal health experts, technology and computer scientists…. We need you all in our industry.”
DairyNZ, MPI and BLNZ are writing a ‘people power report’ to set out where we need to be and how to work together. We need educators now to help us build the workforce for the future, says Mackle.
The St Paul’s programme will develop curricula for senior secondary schools to get facilitate the best and brightest into research and professional careers in the primary sector.
Mackle says the programme is “a centre of excellence. And that’s not an aspiration, it’s a mission to be the best we can as an industry, a sector and a country exporting food.”
He says DairyNZ is delighted to be supporting the centre. “We all need to work together on this.”
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy launched the programme.
Science is pivotal to driving progress and unlocking opportunity and innovation in the ag sector, says DairyNZ chief executive and chair of the Agribusiness in Schools programme, Campbell Parker.
OPINION: Last week, Education Minister Erica Stanford sent a clear, but troubling message to New Zealand’s students: if you’re academically ambitious, agriculture might not be for you.
Public backlash has forced the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Education Minister Erica Stanford to do a U-turn on a proposal to axe agriculture and horticulture science as standalone subjects in the secondary school curriculum.
There's been unprecedented demand from secondary school students across the country to study agricultural related subjects.
OPINION: Your old mate gets the sinking feeling that no matter who we vote into power in the hope they will reverse the terminal slide the country is in, there will always be a cohort of naysayers determined to hold us back.
According to ASB, Fonterra's plan to sell it's Anchor and Mainlands brands could inject $4.5 billion in additional spending into the economy.
New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.
The climate of uncertainty and market fragmentation that currently characterises the global economy suggests that many of the European agricultural machinery manufacturers will be looking for new markets.
Dignitaries from all walks of life – the governor general, politicians past and present, Maoridom- including the Maori Queen, church leaders, the primary sector and family and friends packed Our Lady of Kapiti’s Catholic church in Paraparaumu on Thursday October 23 to pay tribute to former prime Minister, Jim Bolger who died last week.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Todd McClay is encouraging farmers, growers, and foresters not to take unnecessary risks, asking that they heed weather warnings today.
With nearly two million underutilised dairy calves born annually and the beef price outlook strong, New Zealand’s opportunity to build a scalable dairy-beef system is now.
OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.
OPINION: Politicians and Wellington bureaucrats should take a leaf out of the book of Canterbury District Police Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.
