Farming a career to be proud of

Farming is a great career choice, Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton said today. 

He told a group of young farmers on an Agriculture Industry Training Organisation course in Christchurch that while most New Zealanders struggled to grasp the size and sophistication of our primary sector, it was vitally important for the economy.

“Our primary industries are our most science-based, our most research and development-based, and our most innovative industries. There is as much science in landing a fresh gold kiwifruit or lamb chop in a foreign supermarket, as there is in a flat screen television.”

The Government was showing its commitment to generating that scientific knowledge, through the recent announcement of the New Zealand Fast Forward initiative which will see about $2 billion poured into pastoral and food sector innovation over the next 10 to 15 years or so.

“There have been some who have pooh-poohed farming as a career. It’s something we’re hoping to turn around with the clear sign, through New Zealand Fast Forward, that science, agriculture, horticulture, and food technology are all important, that there are great jobs, opportunities, and committed funding available, in the only sectors New Zealand has that have global reach and scale – our primary industries.”