Her commitment to the agri-sector, academic achievements, innovative thinking and passion shone through, Ravensdown said.
The $5000 scholarship is for Ravensdown shareholders’ sons and daughters studying for agriculture or horticulture degrees.
“It is going to open a lot of new doors and new paths to the things I’m passionate about,” Wilson said.
Originally from a sheep and beef farm at Gisborne, she spent a lot of her childhood mustering on horseback and helping maintain her family’s farm. That experience left her deeply passionate about the rural sector.
“When I was just a baby, dad would take me out mustering on the horses in a baby carrier.
“It wasn’t until my family bought our farm 15 years ago that I really had the opportunity to become more involved in farm life and started helping out with all kinds of things like fencing, yard work and mustering.”
The 20-year-old is in the second year of an agri-science degree,
“I knew from a young age that the agri-science degree at Lincoln was for me. I enjoyed the South Island so it was a perfect fit.”
Wilson has a keen interest in soil and plant science and hopes to work in the field.
“I always thought I would go into animal health but my interest in soil and plant science began last year after learning more about it in my lectures.
“It really opened my eyes up to all the opportunities that could come from having a career in that field.
“It’s an area that I can definitely see myself working in after my degree, perhaps as a nutrient manager or in the science side of seed breeding, which is really exciting.
“One of the things that my studies have taught me is just how important soil quality is to farming in New Zealand.
“If we are going to keep growing food for the next 100 years we must make sure our soil quality is maintained. Making improvements to our country’s soil while preventing degradation and erosion has to be a top priority.”
On the farm Wilson’s mother Tracy runs the 263ha hill country sheep and beef property by herself and she sees her as a role model.
“She taught me to keep strong and positive even in the tough times, which gave me something to look up too.
“She also taught me even the worst days on the farm can get better.
“It’s that sort of attitude that is the key to success on a farm.”
She also believes Young Farmers and Teen Ag influenced her along the way.
“I was one of the founders of the Teen Ag club at Gisborne Girls High School. It was awesome to bring in a bit of the farm into a school that didn’t teach agriculture.”
When she left school she became a member of Gisborne and Lincoln Young Farmers clubs.
At school she had to go to Gisborne Boys High School in years 12 and 13 to study agriculture.
She has received a Gisborne A&P Society scholarship and the William Mclean scholarship for agriculture from Gisborne Girls High School.
This summer Wilson working her way through the 28-week practical assessment where students have to work on a sheep and beef property for 14 weeks and a dairy farm for 14 weeks.
“When university finished at the end of last year I went home and worked on a farm with an old boss I used to work with further up the coast and now I’m working on a dairy farm in Lincoln.
“I definitely prefer sheep and beef farming, I suppose it is because that was what I was brought up with.
“I’m really looking forward to what future will bring. It is such an exciting sector to be in.”
