Ambitious future farmer gets grant

Lewis Nichols was presented with the $7500 Whangarei Agricultural and Pastoral Society's agricultural scholarship by scholarship convenor and society president Murray Jagger. Photo / Whangarei A&P Society

Ambitious, passionate and motivated" is how judges described Dargaville student Lewis Nichols, awarded the $7500 Whangarei Agricultural and Pastoral Society's agricultural scholarship.

A keen supporter of the rural sector, Lewis started a TeenAg Club in his final year at Dargaville High School this year. He and his teammate won the Northern regional final of the TeenAg competition and represented Northland in the national competition at Taupo earlier in the year.

Lewis said this experience helped cement his desire to pursue a career in the primary sector and he has enrolled to study agri-commerce at Massey University next year.

"Competing in Taupo I found myself immersed in a culture of people with the same passion as me. I met a lot of people from the industry and learned about the many different paths in agriculture," he said.

"Having an agricultural degree will expose me to many opportunities and I will be able to experience different farming types and systems before becoming a farmer myself. I also see the demand for trained professionals in the sector continuing to grow in the future."

Scholarship convenor and society president Murray Jagger said young people like Lewis "show the future of agriculture is in good hands".

"Lewis' passion for the primary sector and his desire to learn about the technical side of farming came through strongly at the scholarship interview. Combined with his demonstrated leadership skills to date, the selection panel believes the scholarship is going to a worthy recipient," he said.

The shortlisted applicants provided stiff competition in the scholarship selection process.

"The top four candidates were outstanding -- it was really close," Mr Jagger said.

"In the end Lewis sealed it with his all round knowledge of the wider rural sector and his own viewpoints on some of the key issues. For his age, Lewis seemed to be well read and had a good understanding of rural issues as they apply to the wider world, as well as here at home."

Designed to help students pursue a career in agriculture or related studies, the scholarship was established to help ease some of the financial burden as secondary school students embark on their next level of study. Recipients receive $2500 annually over three years.

Meanwhile, the Whangarei A&P Society has awarded three local secondary school students $1000 each in recognition of their school performance during the year and their demonstrated passion for agriculture.

The cash awards went to Jessica Smythe, from Bream Bay College, who is now working on a dairy farm in Ruakaka; Jake Cosson, from Kamo High School, who is going to the Telford campus of Lincoln University in South Otago next year; and Isaac Green, from Whangarei Boys' High School, who will be studying agribusiness at the University of Waikato next year.

The students were nominated by their school for the scholarships and had to attend an interview with representatives from the Society, who assessed their commitment and desire to do well in the primary sector.

In making the presentations, Mr Jagger said the high school graduates could spend the money however they chose -- it could be used to purchase equipment or materials they needed to start work or make a contribution toward course fees as they made the move from secondary school into the wider world.