Five Nuffield Farming Scholars named for 2014
A diverse group of rural New Zealanders has been chosen as the latest crop of Nuffield Scholars.
Nuffield New Zealand and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have announced the scholarships at a function in
Wellington for West Coast dairy farmer Bede O’Connor; Woodville dairy farmer Ben Allomes; Rotorua-based DairyNZ regional
leader Sharon Morrell; Whanganui farmer, entrepreneur and conservationist Dan Steele and Fonterra employee Satwant Singh
from Morrinsville.
The five new Scholars join more than 145 others who have been awarded Nuffield Scholarships in the past 60 years, which
has been a substantial investment in New Zealand agriculture’s past, current and future leaders, says Nuffield NZ
chairman Stuart Julian Raine.
“Only a handful are awarded each year so a Nuffield Scholarship is one of rural New Zealand's most valuable and
prestigious awards. To be a Scholar is a life-changing experience."
The Nuffield NZ Scholarship offers the opportunity for overseas travel, study of the latest developments in a number of
leading agricultural countries and provides an introduction to leaders and decision makers not accessible to the
ordinary traveller.
One of the current 2014 Scholars is Palmerston North potato grower, agricultural contractor and equity dairy farmer Paul
Olsen.
“It has been a brilliant experience for me, seeing other countries and a variety of cultures, mind boggling but also eye
opening. New Zealand has a huge opening for the future, in terms of things like food proteins and niche products, it’s
there for the taking. It’s a massive opportunity for us to take on the challenge.”
Olsen says the Nuffield name opened many doors.
“I visited some massive operations – people wouldn’t hold back. It was 100 per cent nuts and bolts business information
you wouldn’t get any other way.”
He says the contacts made and networks formed will last a lifetime.
“I made some very strong contacts and friendships, especially through the UK, Ireland and Scotland. Many of them are
coming to stay here in the next 18 months or so as well, either travelling individually or finishing their own Nuffield
Scholarship travels.”
Nuffield Scholars travel internationally for at least four months in their Scholarship year (not necessarily
consecutively), participate in a Contemporary Scholars conference with 60 Nuffield Scholars from around the world and
attend a six-week Global Focus Programme with an organised itinerary through several countries with other scholars. They
also have their own individual study programme with a research report due at the end of their travels.
The 2015 research topics are likely to cover issues such as the internal growth potential of China; recognising and
utilising New Zealand’s greatest asset – its people; farming communities’ responses to changes in environmental
regulations or other constraints; the potential of “Brand New Zealand” and how having communities involved in
conservation will show value in looking after the environment; and farmer understanding of their financial and overall
business health focusing around budgeting, risk management, stress levels for farmers, suicide levels and farming
pressure.
The five 2015 scholars are:
Bede O’Connor, West Coast
West Coast dairy farmer Bede O’Connor is milking 340 cows on 170 hectares near Westport and is an elected director of
the Westland Dairy Co-op. O’Connor, 43, has achieved a 25 per cent increase in production over the past three seasons
after purchasing his family’s farm in 2011. He would like to develop a self-sufficient farming system to combat the
influences of more frequently occurring climatic events. He is a member of the West Coast TB Free Committee, West Coast
Rural Support Trust and the West Coast Focus Farm Trust. He was a regional judge for the Dairy Industry Awards Trainee
of the year and is an active member of West Coast Federated Farmers.
Sharon Morrell, Rotorua
Sharon Morrell is a regional leader with DairyNZ in Rotorua. Her role is a mixture of direct farmer interaction and
leading a small team running discussion groups, field days and workshops. She also works alongside strategic partners,
including the BOP Dairy Stakeholders Group. After gaining a Bachelor of Agricultural Science Morrell worked as a MAF
farm advisor. With husband Ross she has worked on farm and raised four children. She did some supervisory and
consultancy work before moving to DairyNZ in 2010. She attended the Kellogg Rural Leadership programme in 2011.
Dan Steele, Whanganui
Dan Steele is a farmer and conservationist living and working on Blue Duck Station - a 1460 hectare sheep and beef
station and conservation project at Whakahoro, surrounded by Whanganui National Park. After working with his parents on
the neighbouring Retaruke Station for seven years, Steele built Blue Duck Lodge in 2005, started Blue Duck Station in
2006 and founded the Wild Journeys commercial jet boats partnership in 2010. Steele is involved with the Ruapehu
Regional Tourism Organisation (Visit Ruapehu), Ducks Unlimited, NZ Wetland Care and the Whanganui National Park
Conservation and Historic Preservation Trust.
Satwant Singh
Satwant Singh works for Fonterra during the week and on the family dairy farm near Morrinsville at the weekends. Singh,
30 and her husband Sunil Krishna live in Auckland – during the week she is part of the Fonterra Commodity Risk and
Trading team as an Originator. One of her achievements is the Guaranteed Milk Price programme for farmers. She became an
area manager for Fonterra in Morrinsville (2008-2012) after working as a Service Specialist for Fonterra (2006-2008).
Singh has a Bachelor of Management Studies with Honours (Majoring in Marketing and Human Resources) and a Graduate
Diploma in Accounting from the University of Waikato.
Ben Allomes
Dairy farmer Ben Allomes and wife Nicky own a half share in an 850-cow farm at Woodville; are 50/50 sharemilkers on a
400-cow farm at Woodville and a 215-cow property at Ruawhata; and also lease two other properties. Allomes is a
farmer-elected DairyNZ director and on their local school Board of Trustees. He has been heavily involved with NZ Young
Farmers, Primary ITO, Dairy Industry Awards, Fonterra Network and DairyNZ. While president of Young Farmers, 2007-2009,
he helped to restructure and reposition the organisation and jointly led the development of the NZYF leadership
“Pipeline” programme now adopted by industry “Generate” Steering Committee.