Primary industries research is set for a boost through a new scholarship established by Canterbury rural investment company Craigmore in conjunction with Lincoln University.
Named in honour of former Fonterra chair the late John Wilson, the inaugural Craigmore Sustainables and Wilson Family Sustainability for Primary Industries Scholarship 2024, aimed at furthering research in the sector, will be awarded to a student undertaking postgraduate study and research in agriculture.
Craigmore Sustainables manages more than 25,000 hectares of dairy, grazing, forestry, and horticultural properties, 60 in total, throughout New Zealand.
The company manages over $1 billion of assets and employs more than 230 people.
The Craigmore Farming team last year won the John Wilson Memorial Fonterra Responsible Dairying Award at the NZ Dairy Industry Awards.
The award, also named in honour of John Wilson, was accompanied by a cash prize of $10,000, which Craigmore has chosen to put into the new research scholarship fund.
Craigmore general manager of farming Stuart Taylor says the new scholarship is an opportunity to give back to the sector and foster future talent.
As part of the $2,000 annual scholarship, recipients will also have the opportunity to undertake research on a Craigmore dairy farm.
Craigmore general manager of farming Stuart Taylor said the new scholarship is an opportunity to give back to the sector and foster future talent.
“Our young people are the ones that will farm our land in the future and they’re also going to be the ones to come up with the innovation and big ideas that will solve some of the challenges the sector is facing around biodiversity loss and climate change,” Taylor said.
“The creation of this scholarship transforms the responsible dairying award to a long-term focus for Craigmore as sustainability is at the heart of everything we do.”
Taylor said the scholarship acknowledges the legacy of the Wilson family.
“It is as an opportunity to establish an ongoing relationship with individuals whose research adds value to the primary industry sector.”
Craigmore has a reputation for adopting new technology or techniques at a commercial scale in order to help lift productivity and sustainability across all NZ farms.
This is the farming enterprise’s second scholarship with Lincoln University.
The first, the Craigmore Sustainables Farming Scholarship, which is still in place, was established in 2014 to also support postgraduate research and study in agriculture.
