Ravensdown partners with Footrot Flats to celebrate Kiwi farming heritage
Ravensdown has announced a collaboration with Kiwi icon, Footrot Flats in an effort to bring humour, heart, and connection to the forefront of the farming sector.
A Te Karaka student has been awarded the Mangatu Blocks and Ravensdown Scholarship, providing three years study at Auckland University.
Roland Taupara Brown completed his secondary schooling at Gisborne Boys High School where in his final year he was named Dux for 2014.
Brown says the scholarship provides him with a unique opportunity to focus on his studies in science and commerce at Auckland University. His Bachelor of Science degree will focus on green chemistry and his Bachelor of Commerce will provide the business disciplines to ensure a balance between environmental and commercial considerations.
“Looking ahead, it’s obvious that we need more efficient and eco-friendly technologies to protect the environment and maintain our competitiveness,” he says.
“Specialist and qualified people who are able to use their knowledge and ingenuity to solve the problems are an essential part of our future. I aim to be one of those people.”
Brown has family connections with the Mangatu Blocks Incorporation, his father Tama is on the committee, his grandfather Michael was the farm supervisor during the 1970s and 1980s and his great grandfather, George was a farm manager for many years.
Brown says he looks forward to contributing to the incorporation in the future.
Mangatu Blocks Incorporation manages ancestral lands inland and to the north of Gisborne and has interests in the agribusiness, viticulture and forestry sectors.
The Mangatu Blocks Incorporation and Ravensdown university scholarship was established in 2012 for Mangatu Blocks shareholders, their children or their grandchildren, to support undergraduate study in an agricultural/ horticultural or related undergraduate degree.
Fonterra’s impending exit from the Australian dairy industry is a major event but the story doesn’t change too much for farmers.
Expect greater collaboration between Massey University’s school of Agriculture and Environment and Ireland’s leading agriculture university, the University College of Dublin (UCD), in the future.
A partnership between Torere Macadamias Ltd and the Riddet Institute aims to unlock value from macadamia nuts while growing the next generation of Māori agribusiness researchers.
A new partnership between Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) and NZAgbiz aims to make evidence-based calf rearing practices accessible to all farm teams.
Despite some trying circumstances recently, the cherry season looks set to emerge on top of things.
Changed logos on shirts otherwise it will be business as usual when Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses are expected to change hands next month.

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