Friday, March 29, 2024

Contest winner sold on agri work

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This year’s FMG Young Farmer of the Year winner James Robertson lives in Auckland but told Colin Williscroft he still sees his future in the primary sector.
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The primary sector sometimes struggles to attract talented young people to the variety of career opportunities it offers but James Robertson says building awareness of what is available in the wider agri-foods field can help change that.

And he’s in a pretty good place to play a part.

Last weekend Robertson, 22, became the youngest ever winner of the FMG Young Farmer of the Year competition. 

He grew up on a 200-cow Waikato dairy farm and, after completing an agri commerce degree at Massey University, is part of Fonterra’s business graduate programme.

The programme is split into four six-month rotations, giving graduates a taste of the variety of the co-op’s operations. 

Robertson’s first six months were spent as part of the dairy giant’s sustainable dairying team in Hamilton before moving to Auckland to be part of a venture capital team working on an internal start-up. In February he joined the trade strategy team.

“The trade strategy team supports and advises the business on approaches to changing geopolitical activity and tariff opportunities,” he said.

“It’s a crazy world of technical terms and acronyms and the policy side involves a lot of reading.

“I was lucky enough to study international agribusiness while I was at university so it’s made the transition a lot easier. 

“It’s an area I have always been interested in and I’m really enjoying it,” he said, though moving to Auckland, which is teeming with people and cars, was a massive lifestyle change.

“It wasn’t something I ever saw myself doing but it was an amazing opportunity to push me outside of my comfort zone.”

The exposure to different aspects of the Fonterra business the graduate programme provides is a great platform to help develop skills and knowledge while increasing his awareness of further opportunities to learn.

More than ever, Robertson is confident of an exciting future ahead in the primary sector, with a wide range of options available.

He’s keen for other young people to be more aware of what the sector offers.

In the past there has always been the perception that primary industry jobs mean always having gumboots on, he said.

Though that might be true in some jobs, there’s a whole range of other opportunities for rewarding careers in the sector.

For those who don’t want to operate a chainsaw, drive a tractor or move stock there’s plenty of scope in the expanding area of agri-foods.

The challenge is promoting those possibilities to the best and brightest young people looking for fulfilling careers, something Young Farmers is focused on, Robertson said.

Reminding or making people aware of the advantages of living in regional or rural areas is part of that equation.

“You can have a great career in the city but you can have a more fulfilling life in the regions. 

“The lifestyle it offers is a massive factor,” he says, adding that growing up he got a lot out of being able to watch his parents work on the farm.

Young Farmers has a proud history of providing influential rural leaders and Robertson has plenty of potential to add to that tradition.

While he was at Massey he joined its Young Farmers club, which is the largest in the country.

He went on to chair the club, building his governance and strategic thinking skills.

However, his connection with Young Farmers began a few years earlier.

In 2013 Robertson and his Hamilton Boys’ High School team mate Regan Kidd won the Young Farmers TeenAg grand final.

“I can guarantee I probably wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for my involvement with NZ Young Farmers early on,” he said.

“I was the founding chair of the TeenAg club at Hamilton Boys’ High School. It provided an awesome opportunity to start building my leadership skills.”

He is the first person to go on and win the Young Farmer grand final after earlier winning the TeenAg final.

These days he’s a member of Auckland Young Farmers, which has helped him adjust to his new home while remaining connected to his rural roots.

“It’s nice to be able to go along to club meetings and have a chat about how rain in February is a good thing.

“The club’s a hub for young people who work in the agri-food sector and find themselves living in the big smoke.”

As well as his Young Farmers membership Robertson has maintained his physical connection to farming, still getting his gumboots dirty even though his parents sold the family farm and semi-retired while he was at university in Palmerston North.

These days mum and dad own a block of land near Karapiro and he gets there as often as he can while also spending as much time on mates’ farms as possible.

“I like to balance that with the corporate lifestyle because I don’t want to lose the (on-farm) connection.”

Though he works in an Auckland office returning to the land is always on the cards.

His ideal job would be milking or shifting cows in the morning then spending the afternoon in an office.

In the meantime, he wants to learn as much as he can, though given how hectic the last few months have been, taking time out to stop and think for a moment is also a priority.

“When you’ve climbed to the top of a mountain it gives you the opportunity to stop for a moment and have a look at the view then take a deep breath and see where to head to next.”

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