I was born in Hastings but my dad's a sheep and beef farmer, so my parents moved around a bit chasing farms and jobs. We lived for a while in Te Kūiti and Ōtorohanga, where my dad worked on sheep, beef and deer farms. My parents split up when I was about 10, and I moved back to Hawke's Bay with my mum and little sister. There’s a lot of aunties and uncles as pretty much all of our family, from both my dad’s and mum's sides, are here. Growing up I did plenty of cutting cabbages and picking pumpkins on my uncle John’s market garden, and my mum's partner is an orchardist, so I've had a real mixed rural upbringing.
All through high school, I was like, right, I want to work in agriculture - I want to do farming. I loved running around on bikes, chasing sheep and working in the yards. I went to Lincoln and did a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, but I think figuring out what you want to do when you leave university is hard. It’s all well and good saying, oh, yep, I want to go into agriculture - but whereabouts? I did dairy farming for one summer in between uni, but it wasn’t for me, so I knew I didn't want to do that, but then, what's next? So after uni I came back to Hastings and was working on my cousin’s orchard when a customer service role came up at Fruitfed Supplies. That was a good way of entering the business because you get to understand processes and to meet a hell of a lot of people. I've been supported and encouraged in my career one hundred per cent. When I first got here, I made it quite clear that I didn't want to be in the store forever. And right then and there, they told me about the PGG Wrightson Academy, which is an internal, year-long programme linked with the Primary Industry Training Organisation, so you get to complete a Certificate in Rural Servicing. The academy programme is a good way of learning what the business has to offer across all business units, because there’s not only Fruitfed Supplies, but also rural supplies, real estate, livestock and wool. That was probably the biggest pivotal point for me to stick around because I understood that there were opportunities here. I came top of class in my year - it’s the first thing I've ever won. I always struggled at school, was never one to excel academically or anything, so that was very cool.
I also applied for a trainee technical representative role, where you get paired up with a senior rep and they become your main mentor for a season and a half. The idea is when you come out of that you are fully prepped and equipped to take on the reins of looking after a few growers. I loved it and ended up staying on and getting a full-time role as a rep.
I think who you surround yourself with is important. I was on a panel recently with three other women at a Woman in Horticulture event and one of the questions was about what it was like as a female coming into the horticulture industry. And we all actually had really, really supportive male mentors or role models in our lives. And I think that's an important story to tell, is that there are some real good eggs out there, that really want to support - it doesn't matter what gender, race or sexuality or anything that you are – there are a lot of people out there who are just looking for good people to work with.
As a young person coming into the industry, you don't have a lot of experience, so having to build that trust can be a challenge - it can be really tough trying to gain trust of a 50- or 60-year-old farmer or grower that's been doing it his whole life. Like, what am I going to tell him? I've just kind of jumped out of my ute or jumped out of school. So that definitely was a challenge at the start, building those relationships. But I think you learn a lot about yourself and you often have to stay out of your head a little bit - it's not at all as bad as it seems. Most people are pretty nice and a lot of them have actually been really good role models for me over the years as well, which has been really nice.
In my current role I work closely with growers on all of their pest and disease and orchard husbandry needs. I follow the weather very closely and look at disease and pest models so I can give growers the best advice for their crops. And most of that is export market, so making sure we get it right is really, really important. It's a lot of money on the line, so a lot can be on your shoulders, having a multimillion-dollar crop on your hands. You work closely with growers, and they really appreciate the relationship you form with them. Those growers often invite you into their homes to have cups of tea. The family knows you, and it can be lovely, building that relationship outside of the business talk.
The number one thing is that relationship and people aspect. You deal with people every day. So that's definitely high up the list, and if you can surround yourself with genuinely cool people too, that's even better. In my role specifically, having a science background definitely helps. I'm not saying you need to be mixing jars and be a chemistry nerd, but having a practical understanding of growing is a good thing. Something we often do is problem solve or fight fires. So that's probably the biggest thing, is just being able to think on your feet. You do have to take into account a lot of external factors like weather, and what kind of stress load the trees are under, as well as having a little bit of understanding around the economy and the financial stress that growers are under - especially at the moment, there's a bit of that happening.
I'm committed to horticulture one hundred per cent. There was a time during my traineeship that I thought, oh, I wonder if, at the end of this, what do I do? Do I go back to agriculture or am I in it for life now? But I'm definitely attached to horticulture now, and definitely love the growers that I work with, and love the job that I do as well. I actually surprised myself with that pivot from agriculture to horticulture. It’s funny, it's almost like I didn't go looking for horticulture, but it kind of found me in a way.
PGG Wrightson has a rich heritage supporting New Zealand farmers and growers for over 170 years. PGG Wrightson supported the production of this story. To find out more about career opportunities with PGG Wrightson and Fruitfed Supplies, visit careers.pggwrightson.co.nz/home
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