The Nuffield Ireland crew at the Triennial in Christchurch’s Cardboard Cathedral. L to r: Liagh Whelehan, David Dolan, Gillian Willis, Mairead Leonard, Catherine Lascurettes, Aoife Feeney, Joe Leonard.

Image: The Nuffield Ireland crew at the Triennial in Christchurch’s Cardboard Cathedral. L to r: Liagh Whelehan, David Dolan, Gillian Willis, Mairead Leonard, Catherine Lascurettes, Aoife Feeney, Joe Leonard.

Nuffield Triennial in New Zealand

Nuffield Ireland Chairperson Joe Leonard and Executive Catherine Lascurettes travelled to the Triennial hosted by Nuffield New Zealand in large part because Nuffield Ireland will be hosting the event in 2026.

The event, which ran from 24th March in Christchurch to end 2nd April in Queenstown, gave opportunities for Nuffield Alumni, agricultural leaders from all countries and all generations, to catch up and network, and to learn more about the opportunities and challenges of New Zealand agribusiness.

The Triennial also marked the start of the mandatory four-week Global Focus Programme (GFP) travels for three groups of 2022 and 2023 Scholars from all over the world, including Irish Scholars Aoife Feeney, David Dolan (2022), Liagh Whelehan and Gillian Willis (2023).

Just as it is in Europe, sustainability is the name of the game for Kiwi agriculture. Key phrases around reducing the carbon footprint, methane emissions and soil health punctuated our visits, though it seemed there was at least some disconnect between policies and buy-in on the ground. In fact, we found that policy makers and agribusiness argued for climate action not for the sake of the climate, but because it was necessary to secure access to markets.

After a visit to the Fonterra processing plant in Darfield, we visited an intensive dairy farm in the Canterbury plains, part of the Pamú network of farms, which are owned by the state and have a self-declared strong climate action focus. However, while they appear to be used by the state to facilitate visiting trade missions, they do not appear to have a research and extension function.

Another focus of the visits was on value-added produce. We walked Kings Truffles, a family-run truffle farm located amidst the vineyards of Northern Canterbury which infuses green oak roots with the mycelium of highly prized Perigord truffles, harvests and sells the produce to restaurants. The ex-farm price for this crop is NZ$3,800 or around €2,500 per kilo. Their expected 2023 output could reach 200 to 300 kgs per hectare.

David Dolan, Aoife Feeney and Liagh Whelehan at the Fonterra milk powder and cream cheese plant at Darfield, Canterbury.

Image: David Dolan, Aoife Feeney and Liagh Whelehan at the Fonterra milk powder and cream cheese plant at Darfield, Canterbury.

Image: The group at the intensive dairy farm part of the Pámu network

Jax Lee-May, MD of Kings Truffles, demonstrates the tell-tale “brulé” around the tree roots which indicates the presence of ripe truffles.

Image: Jax Lee-May, MD of Kings Truffles, demonstrates the tell-tale “brulé” around the tree roots which indicates the presence of ripe truffles.

The first part of the event closed with the Rural Leaders Agribusiness Summit.

The remainder of the programme saw participants travel to Lake Tekapo, wineries, orchards, merino sheep farms and much besides, ending in beautiful Queenstown on 2nd April.

You can read our Executive Catherine Lascurettes’ take-aways on the combined CSC and Triennial experiences, in the April 2023 Cúl Dara Consultancy Newsletter – click here to read

You can find out more about the Nuffield programme, and the adventures of our travelling Scholars in real time, by following us on our social media channels.