We’re running a new series where we chat with Young Farmers from around NZ on what it’s like being part of NZ Young Farmers and how the new Feds Young Farmer membership can help build into a career in agriculture.
Kicking it off is Tammy Cooper, who’s part of the Fitzherbert Club in Palmy North. Tammy attended Massey University where she joined Young Farmers for the first time and that opened her eyes to everything farming encompasses.
Tammy’s club, Fitzherbert, has around 30 members and has organized events such as a Wild West party and pub crawls while also making time for some of the “nitty gritty” conversations. Fitzherbert has close connections with other clubs such as Opiki and Wellington which means plenty of opportunity to connect with other people in the industry that love agriculture, which was a big draw card for Tammy. “I have friends that don’t have farming backgrounds in town who don’t talk much about farming so having friends in Young Farmers that love to chat about it makes it a good mix,” Tammy says.
Tammy currently works for the regional council in Palmerston North where a lot of time is spent on farm, and she can see some real opportunities for young people to understand what is happening beyond the farm gate. “If a shepherd knows how far back he/she should put up a fence for riparian planting around a waterway, then it just makes life a bit simpler”.
This is where the Feds Young Farmer membership comes into play not only helping those on farm but also rural professionals in more urban environments to get amongst the policy and advocacy wagon that is Federated Farmers.
“You can’t be a ‘Young Farmer’ forever but giving the younger generation a chance to be a part of the conversation and work for farmers will give them a head start. That will make a difference when they become farm owners themselves”.
Next time we will be chatting with Josh Wilkinson, a dairy farmer from Dannevirke who loves getting stuck in with all things dairy including being on the Dairy Industry awards team.
If you would like to become a Feds Young Farmer membership go to bit.ly/NZYFFedFarmers. You will need to be a NZ Young Farmers member, so if you aren’t already go to https://my.youngfarmers.co.nz/node/44.