Dairy power
OPINION: The good times felt across the dairy sector weren't lost at last week's Beef + Lamb NZ annual meeting.
Farmer Time had its origins in the UK back in 2016, subsequently expanding internationally. Beef + Lamb NZ became aware of it just prior to the Covid lockdowns and proceeded to establish a New Zealand branch with the collaboration of Farmer Time founder Tom Martin.
The programme, which aims to connect Year 1-8 NZ school students and their teachers with farmers and growers across the country, started with a small pilot group of eight farmer-teacher pairs and quickly expanded to 47 pairings by year's end.
Emma McElrea, a Year 2 and 3 teacher from Northland School in Wellington, says her involvement with the programme had brought to life New Zealand curriculum learning in a unique, real world way.
"Our farmer Mairi Whittle has been incredible to work with, we're learning so much and our whole class has formed a real bond with Mairi and her boys."
Whittle - a sheep and beef farmer from Taihape - echoed the sentiment. "It's been an honour to be a part of Farmer Time in conjunction with Emma. It's heartening to share parts of farming life with students who might not otherwise get this chance."
Farmer Time national coordinator Marie Burke says it had been amazing to be a part of this programme from the inception and see it grow so much.
"Our hard work to match teachers with farmers and growers has paid off and we can't wait to see where it can go from here."
She says feedback received from participants has been overwhelmingly positive, with every class and teacher surveyed rating the programme as enjoyable and valuable, with even the lowest rated question (interest in continued participation) having a 90% approval rating.
Teachers stated that the programme significantly developed students' awareness of the work carried out by food and fibre producers as well as shedding light on the numerous career opportunities available within the primary industries.
Looking ahead, Burke says Farmer Time is set to continue building on its successful inaugural year and expand its reach to even more schools and farmers.
