29 year old young woman wins the championship of the New Zealand Kiwi Horticulture Annual Young Grower Competition 29歲年輕女性榮獲新西蘭獼猴桃園藝年度青年種植者比賽冠軍
Marsden, who is the kiwifruit manager at Willisbrook Orchards in Brightwater, pitched her skills against five fellow contestants to take the title.
▲Marsden the championship of the New Zealand Kiwi Horticulture
She will now go on to compete against six other regional winners in Horticulture New Zealand’s national Young Grower of the Year competition, to be held in Christchurch in September.
Marsden, 29, grew up on a dairy farm on the West Coast of the South Island, gained a Bachelor of Agriculture from Lincoln before starting her career in the dairy sector.
▲充分授粉的紅心獼猴桃
An accident when she was kicked by a cow, resulting in a wrist injury, made milking difficult so she began looking for corporate roles in the primary sector.
“I hadn’t found anything. My parents were moving to Nelson and I saw a job advertised as an apples supervisor with Willisbrook so I applied. It was so nice to get a ‘yes’ from them.”
She quickly found she really enjoyed working in horticulture.
“I have always been passionate about all of the primary industries and the importance they have to New Zealand. I really enjoyed working in dairy farming, but I noticed a lot of differences in horticulture.
▲Golden kiwifruit after artificial pollination
“Agriculture has come a long way in terms of accessibility for females, but I went from being the only female in my dairy job to working with a lot more. There is less brute strength required, which makes horticulture very accessible for everyone.”
Marsden also found there’s a lot of scope for professional development, both learning on the job and through external providers.
Willisbrook supported her to gain the New Zealand Certificate in Horticulture Production – Fruit Production at Level 3 and 4 through Primary ITO.
▲Red heart kiwifruit orchard in Sichuan Province, China
After two years with the company, Marsden moved to Ballance Agri-Nutrients as nutrient specialist for the Tasman Buller region. She enjoyed her role but found she missed the practical side of working in horticulture, so last October she returned to Willisbrook.
“I didn’t have experience in kiwifruit so I knew, coming back, that I would need a good network around me as I got my feet planted and Willisbrook has really provided that. I have had so much support.
▲使用鋰電池的獼猴桃電動授粉機
“I’m managing the permanent and seasonal staff, so up to 30 people at peak times. There are so many different aspects to the work and, for me personally I really enjoy that I can still get to do a lot of practical stuff and am not just in an office.”
Runner-up in the Nelson competition was Tasman Valley Young Farmers chair Georgia Steele. Third place went to Caleb Aarsen, who is currently studying towards a Diploma in Horticulture at Lincoln University.
Amelia Marsden贏得了Nelson 2025青年種植者地區(qū)冠軍。
Marsden是Brightwater Willisbrook Orchards的獼猴桃經(jīng)理，她與五位參賽者一起展示了自己的技能，以獲得冠軍。
她現(xiàn)在將繼續(xù)與其他六位地區(qū)冠軍在9月在克賴斯特徹奇舉行的新西蘭國家園藝年度青年種植者比賽中競爭。
▲高山紅心獼猴桃果園
29歲的Marsden在南島西海岸的一個奶牛場長大，在開始從事乳制品行業(yè)之前，她從林肯大學獲得了農(nóng)業(yè)學士學位。
在一次事故中，她被一頭奶牛踢了一腳，導致手腕受傷，擠奶變得困難，于是她開始在初級部門尋找公司職位。
“我什么也沒找到。我的父母要搬到納爾遜，我看到Willisbrook的蘋果主管的招聘廣告，于是我申請了。能得到他們的肯定真是太好了?！?br />
她很快發(fā)現(xiàn)自己真的很喜歡園藝工作。
▲高山紅心獼猴桃果園
“我一直對所有初級產(chǎn)業(yè)及其對新西蘭的重要性充滿熱情。我真的很喜歡在奶牛場工作，但我注意到園藝有很多不同。
“農(nóng)業(yè)在女性可及性方面已經(jīng)取得了長足的進步，但我從乳制品工作中唯一的女性變成了與更多女性一起工作。所需的體力更少，這使得園藝對每個人來說都很容易?！?/p>
▲kiwi pollen company
Marsden還發(fā)現(xiàn)，無論是在職學習還是通過外部提供者學習，都有很大的職業(yè)發(fā)展空間。
Willisbrook支持她通過初級ITO獲得新西蘭園藝生產(chǎn)證書——3級和4級水果生產(chǎn)。
在公司工作兩年后，Marsden加入Ballance Agri Nutrients，擔任塔斯曼布勒地區(qū)的營養(yǎng)專家。她很喜歡自己的角色，但發(fā)現(xiàn)自己錯過了園藝工作的實際方面，所以去年十月她回到了威利斯布魯克。
“我沒有獼猴桃的經(jīng)驗，所以回來后我知道，在我站穩(wěn)腳跟的時候，我需要一個良好的人際網(wǎng)絡，而Willisbrook真的做到了這一點。我得到了很多支持。
“我負責管理長期和季節(jié)性員工，所以在高峰時段最多有30人。工作有很多不同的方面，對我個人來說，我真的很喜歡我仍然可以做很多實際的事情，而不僅僅是在辦公室里?！?br />
尼爾森比賽的亞軍是塔斯曼谷青年農(nóng)民主席喬治婭·斯蒂爾。第三名是Caleb Aarsen，他目前正在林肯大學攻讀園藝文憑。
▲高山紅心獼猴桃果園
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