The Rabobank Agri Leaders Brazil trip went to the Netherlands in 2023. Photo / Rabobank
The Rabobank Agri Leaders Brazil trip went to the Netherlands in 2023. Photo / Rabobank
Thirty-two Brazilian farmers will spend next week in New Zealand for a knowledge and networking programme to develop the next generation of Brazil’s agribusiness leaders.
Rabobank Agri Leaders Brazil, a whirlwind five-day programme will feature presentations from New Zealand agribusiness leaders and companies and visits to a range of flagship operations in the North and South Islands.
More than 200 Rabobank Brazil food and agri clients have participated in the programme over the past 17 years, with previous tours in Chile, the Netherlands, the United States, Australia, Argentina, Colombia, and several in Brazil.
Brazilian-based Rabobank regional head of rural South America, Pollyana Saraiva said the programme launched in 2007.
She said the initial intake featured about 25 of Rabobank Brazil’s largest export-focused farming clients with a “sizeable chunk” of the original group still involved.
More large-scale farmers had been added over the years and as a result, Rabobank now provided leadership training to many Brazilian farmers each year, she said.
“The programme combines theory, networking and exposure to different environments.
“Succession is also a key focus, and many of our newest programme participants are the children, or in some cases grandchildren, of the farmers who came on board as part of our first intake.”
Saraiva will join programme participants on the tour with five other Rabobank Brazil employees.
She said the touring party featured farmers from several Brazilian regions and agricultural sectors, including coffee, sugar, soybeans, beef and poultry.
International visits and trips were important to the programme as they provided access to a “rich environment of experiences and benchmarks,” she said.
“Across recent years, we’ve had a number of our participants express an interest in travelling to New Zealand and I know the travelling party are really excited about the prospect of visiting New Zealand and learning more about technology and innovation across the country’s agricultural sector.”
Rabobank New Zealand general manager for country banking Bruce Weir said he would address participants in Hamilton on Monday morning and join the group for the event’s closing dinner in Queenstown.
The Rabobank Agri Leaders Brazil trip, seen here in the Netherlands in 2023, still has some of the original group members. Photo / Rabobank
He reckoned the tour would be beneficial for everyone involved.
“I’m confident all of the participants will thoroughly enjoy their time here and there will be plenty they learn which can be taken away and applied to their own operations once they return home and I am sure the Rabobank New Zealand staff participating in the tour will learn a lot as well.”
Rabobank Agri Leaders Brazil starts in Auckland on Sunday, November 17 and finishes in Queenstown on Thursday, November 21.
Participants will spend two days in the North Island and two days in the South Island.
They will visit several agribusiness operations including two Waikato dairy farms, Forest Lodge cherry orchard in Central Otago, and a large-scale sheep and beef operation in West Otago.
Speakers lined up to address the group for the four-day programme include Rabobank New Zealand chief executive, Todd Charteris; head of carbon research at BloombergNEF, Emma Coker; Fonterra group director- Farm Source, Anne Douglas, Duane Redward and Scott Pollard from NZ Carbon Farming, and representatives from Greenlea Premier Meats.
