Earlier this month, the Farm 2 Future Camp visited PGG Wrightson during their Christchurch trip, with 24 Year 12 students from 20 high schools across New Zealand gaining a deep-dive into a career in agribusiness. Sponsored by Rabobank, Farm 2 Future was run by Lincoln University and is a great example of the industry coming together to foster interest in agriculture and inspire future sector leaders. 

The students visited a range of operations including sheep and beef, cow and sheep dairy operations, Meadow Mushrooms, Foodstuffs, LeaderBrand as well as visiting PGG Wrightson (PGW) at the Christchurch office.  

Hamish Drennan, Key Account Manager for Upper South Island coordinated the visit at PGW and organised for Stephen Guerin our CEO and Milton Munro our Technical Team Manager to speak to the students. Hamish said, “Stephen spoke about his journey and career with PGW and about the wider PGW business, also his passion for the industry. Milton spoke about career pathways into PGW, opportunities within the organisation, the PGW Academy and the challenges the industry is facing — “Which we call opportunity”. 

Ben Morris, a 16-year-old attending Hamilton Boys’ High School said of the programme, “I got a far better perspective of what actually happens at different agribusiness operations. I grew up on a dairy farm so have a bit of knowledge about the sector, but I had no idea just how large the agricultural industry was. It was all really interesting.” 

PGG Wrightson is all about growing the country, and that includes supporting students with insights on the industry and different ways to pursue a fulfilling career while learning more about where our food comes from.  

Hamish said, “We were all students once trying to discover what path we wanted to take. I, as many others are, am grateful to work in this industry. It’s nice to promote that to students to ensure they know there’s far more to this than just driving around in a ute dropping off products to a grower or producer. This brings great value to PGW and the industry, because if we can promote the value, we can encourage the future generation to get involved.” 

You can read more about the programme in the write up on Farmers Weekly here.