A new scholarship will enable a farm environment award-winning farmer to undertake a major study on sustainable and profitable farming. The New Zealand Farm Environment Award Trust and MAF Study Scholarship will be offered exclusively to former Supreme Winners of the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
David Natzke, general manager of the New Zealand Farm Environment Award Trust, says Supreme Winners from the eight regions participating in the 2007 Ballance Farm Environment Awards have been invited to apply for the scholarship.
It will allow the winner to undertake a major study topic “relevant to sustainable and profitable farming as it relates to New Zealand”.
The scholarship winner will receive $15,000 to conduct their research within New Zealand or overseas.
The inaugural winner will be announced at the 2008 Ballance Farm Environment Awards Sustainability Showcase in Palmerston North in late June, with the Minister of Agriculture, Jim Anderton, making the presentation.
Mr Natzke says the information gained from the study project will be shared with the wider farming community.
“This scholarship is another way of recognising the efforts of our award-winners while assisting them to conduct a study project that is expected to be of significant benefit to New Zealand agriculture,” he says.
“The Trust is delighted to have MAF’s support for this scholarship and we believe it will become a very sought-after award.”
This year’s winner will be required to complete the study programme by April 30, 2009, and submit a detailed and comprehensive report to the NZFEA Trust by that date.
The winner will also present their report to MAF Policy.
