Chasing rainbows
OPINION: The Hound awaits with baited breath Nicola Shadbolt's Methane Review Panel's findings this month on whether farmers will continue to be marched to the gallows by legislated methane reduction targets.
A Fonterra director and Massey University professor of farm and agribusiness management, Shadbolt says “just stepping up” to leadership roles is the way forward for women who feel able to make a difference.
But they must be suitably qualified; there are courses or other opportunities to upskill to the right credentials – “then go for it”.
“I don’t think there are any limitations other than people finding the time and inclination,” Shadbolt told Rural News.
“No one stops you and says ‘you can’t do it anymore’. You can, but you’ve got to be able to fit it in with everything else you do. And it has to be something you believe in.”
In the past she served on school boards or similar and believes you should choose groups or organisations “where you think you can add value”.
“If you feel you have skills and knowledge and energy to contribute then go for it. Society needs everyone to contribute.”
Shadbolt says winning the rural award in Women of Influence is an honour.
“I am very thankful to those who have, in turn, influenced me over the years, and grateful to those who have allowed me to influence them,” she says.
The award citation says “For more than 30 years Professor Nicola Shadbolt has taken a strategic perspective on global agribusiness”.
Shadbolt has been on the Fonterra board for nine years and says it is definitely a time-consuming role. She was the only woman on the board for some time and that was challenging. But you make sure you keep rising to the challenge and get the necessary extra training, experience and support, she says.
Rural women often don’t step up to outside leadership roles because they are very busy in their own businesses, she says. They will underestimate their involvement in a farm business “at their peril”: the involvement is acute because a woman is ‘living’ in her business.
Shadbolt says the term ‘rural women’ now applies to many more than those with onfarm roles. Many young women are now in rural servicing roles, e.g. farm consultants, bankers and many others. They are no longer a minority in these fields and at least 50% of Massey students are now women.
This contrasts sharply with Shadbolt’s start in farm consultancy when there were only one or two other women.
