28 October 2004 Preparing Graduates for 'Immediate Deployment' in Agriculture

Strong employment prospects in New Zealand's land-based industries continue to draw school-leavers from throughout the country to agricultural courses at Lincoln University, just outside of Christchurch.

Lincoln's primary sector qualifications, that is certificates, diplomas and degrees in agriculture, horticulture, viticulture and forestry, regularly make up the second biggest group of awards made at Lincoln's capping ceremony after commerce qualifications. Most of the recipients head off into immediate employment with many of the Agricultural Science graduates in particular being "headhunted" by employers in advance and lined up ready to move into jobs the moment they complete their courses.

"Our focus is on preparing students for 'immediate deployment' out there in the real world," says the University's Careers Manager Michelle Ash, “and to help do this we keep in close touch with the needs of employers."

Several factors contribute to Lincoln University's favoured position as a provider of agricultural education. It's been around longer than any other agricultural education institution in this part of the world – and that includes Australia. Indeed, it was founded 126 years ago, and was in existence for 12 years even before the country had a Department of Agriculture! This all means it has a very long history of involvement with New Zealand agriculture and knows its subject very, very well.

Secondly, it has first class facilities for agricultural education, from the fields of a range of different farm types it operates (for example, in Otago, the high country property Mt Grand, near Hawea) to laboratories and other research installations such as a "biotron" – an encased and biologically secure, climate controlled laboratory that duplicates, on a small scale, an exterior growing environment. There are only three of the Lincoln type in the world, with the University's being the only one in the Southern Hemisphere.

Another state-of-the-art facility is the University's 186-hectare dairy farm, close to the campus, aimed at demonstrating world-best practice in dairy farm systems and transferring knowledge, techniques and research findings to dairy farmers throughout the South Island, through the nearby South Island Dairying Development Centre.

As well as operating as a commercial unit, the University's dairy farm is the scene of on-going research in a number of areas including the effect of fertilisers and other farm inputs on groundwater; studies on magnesium metabolism in dairy cattle; and the effects of ammonium sulphate nitrate and urea on the production and quality of irrigated dairy pastures in Canterbury.

Much of the research work on the farm is carried out collaboratively and among those closely involved is the dairy industry centre of excellence, Dexcel.

Dexcel has been very proactive in fostering education to help the growth and sustainability of New Zealand's dairy industry and the New Zealand Dairy Industry Scholarships that it administers are an appreciated example of its educational initiatives. Almost 80 scholarships have been awarded to young men and women studying dairying related courses at Lincoln University and Massey University since the scholarship scheme started in 2001.

The scholarships cover full course fees for the minimum duration of a degree programme and currently at Lincoln there are 31 students on Dairy Industry Scholarships, with eight new scholarships having been awarded this year.

Current Dairy Industry Scholarship students at Lincoln University from Otago are – Morgan Easton, ex-John McGlashan College; Michael Lucy, ex-Waitaki Boys' High School; Miriam Taylor, ex-Dunstan High School.

Former Dairy Scholarship holders from Otago who have now graduated from Lincoln University include Mark Ludemann from Kakanui, now studying for a doctorate at Lincoln, and Randall Aspinall from Wanaka, now a consultant with Wrightsons, Invercargill.

Current Dairy Industry Scholarship students at Lincoln University from the Waikato region are – John Assen and Christopher Stacey, both ex-Hamilton Boys' High School; Laura Buckthought, ex-Hamilton Girls' High School; John White, ex-Putaruru College; and Sam Williams, ex-Otorohanga College.

For full information on agricultural courses at Lincoln University visit www.lincoln.ac.nz

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand