31 May 1995 Top Portuguese Agricultural Official Visits Ashley Dene

A first-hand look at our farming was one of the aims of his visit to New Zealand and Portugal's Director-General of Agricultural Markets and Agro-Food Industry, Dr Jose Cabrita, enjoyed what he saw on Lincoln University's Ashley Dene property during a recent tour.

Accompanied by his wife, Dr Cabrita was on an official Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade visit to New Zealand to look at agriculture, including research and development, and to see what has been done to make it the competitive industry it is today.

In the company of Lincoln's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bruce Ross, and the University's Director of Farms, Tony Whatman, Dr Cabrita visited the 350-hectare Ashley Dene unit where he was hosted by Manager Ken Townley.

The modern operation of Ashley Dene as a light land sheep farm was explained to him along with its historical role in the management of lucerne as a component of South Island pasture systems.

Ken Townley demonstrated the use of a dog in the rounding up and yarding of sheep and then the animals were weighed using a Warp 4 device which gives a print out of weights, average weights and other data.

An agronomist engineer at Lisbon's Superior Institute of Agronomy in his early career, Dr Cabrita has held top posts in agriculture, fisheries and food industries since the early 1980s. In addition to being Portugal's Director-General of Agricultural Markets and Agro-Food Industry, he is President of the Institute for the Agrarian Markets and Agrarian and Foodstuffs Industry.

Dr Cabrita also visited the Crop and Food Research Institute at Lincoln while here. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade official Phil Bennet accompanied the VIP party.

• Pictured: The Manager of Lincoln University's Ashley Dene farm, Ken Townley, demonstrates the weighing of sheep to Dr and Mrs Cabrita and Phil Bennet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.