Anyone from 18 to 35, employed in the sheep and beef sector in Otago or South Canterbury and possessing a minimum two years’ industry experience.
Q. What does the scholarship offer?
Funding for [applicants’] development. It's a case-by-case scenario and based on the proposal they've put forward. We want to see how much they really own it and how much they've thought about. They might want to do a Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme or a Primary ITO level 5 qualification, so it's funding effectively to help your learning and development of your career. We'll publicly recognise three finalists and an overall winner. We will financially support all three finalists.
We're also going to offer the finalists mentorship and networking opportunities to help develop and achieve their goals sooner.
The mentors could be farmer councillors, bankers, agronomists and farm consultants. It all depends on where they want to end up with their goals.
We will help anyone who applies. They may have missed out on the being a finalist but they could consider applying for the Beef + Lamb Generation Next programme. We'll try to support people the best ways we can.
Q. When was the scholarship launched?
This is the inaugural year for the Central South Island region.
Q. Why now?
That's due to feedback from our Central South Island farmer council wanting to help young people achieve their goals within the red meat sector. If we can help with that process and have good people stay involved, that's a big win.
Q. What does the application process involve?
It is a simple email application form and they need to answer about about six questions and provide a referee.
Q. It is a busy time on farm at the moment. Why should young people make the time to apply for the scholarship?
If you're not willing to invest in yourself, then who is? If they're not willing to invest themselves, they'll never get ahead. If they're not thinking forward, they'll get left behind.
Q. How confident are you that there are forward-thinking young people in the red meat sector in Otago and South Canterbury?
Extremely confident. There are a lot of people, aged 18 to 35, who have got big aspirations in the sheep and beef sector.
