Mt Grand Station field day to focus on career options

Rural industry consultant John Bates, of Alexandra. Photo / Yvonne O'Hara

Up to 100 students from throughout Central and North Otago will be able to learn more about the career options available to them in agriculture during a field day at Mt Grand Station, near Lake Hawea, next month.

JBT Consulting's John Bates, of Alexandra, is organising a programme of modules for high school pupils and polytechnic students to be held on April 8 at the 2127ha high country property.

''It will show them the opportunities in agriculture, including farming and support sectors,'' he said.

''The speakers will be pretty honest about the good and bad points - i.e. the environment will be hot, cold and wet but compare that to sitting in a car for 90 minutes in Auckland trying to get to work.''

Bates said there would be six modules, each with two speakers and each group of students would spend about 50 minutes at each.

Leading dog triallist Gordon Lucas will talk about managing and training a pup to become a good working dog. File photo / Warren Buckland

''At this stage I have had positive responses from Twizel, Mt Aspiring, Dunstan, and Ranfurly colleges, as well as Lawrence and Roxburgh and Cromwell Polytechnic,'' he said.

The six modules cover animal breeding, ecology, farm management, finances, dairy, and farm dogs.

As part of the animal breeding module, Earnscleugh Station owner Alistair Campbell will have some of his rams on display and will go through animal assessment.

Department of Conservation's Tim Whittaker will talk about pasture land restoration and future land use issues.

Dr Grant Norbury from Landcare Research will talk mainly about lizards, how farming affects them and what needs to be done to protect them.

Other modules focus on farm management, working in the dairy sector, finances and dealing with rural financial professionals.

Nine Mile station owner and leading dog triallist Gordon Lucas will talk about managing and training a pup to become a good working dog.

''Each speaker will speak for around 10 minutes, then talk about job opportunities in their sector and then take questions,'' Bates said.

Lincoln University's professor Jon Hickford will discuss how young people should approach choosing a career.

''When making a career choice both the head and heart have to be in agreement, so you need to get the best information before making that decision,'' Bates said.