A Professor of Dairy Production is to be appointed at Lincoln University.
The new professorial position - a first at Lincoln - will bolster the leadership the University is giving to the development of sustainable dairy farming in the South Island.
The new professor will develop, initiate and lead new research projects related to South Island dairying and enhance curriculum development and the teaching of dairy production and related subjects at the University.
"The establishment of a Chair in Dairy production is another step by Lincoln University in support of dairy farming and New Zealand agriculture in general," says Acting Vice-Chancellor Roger Field.
"With dairy exports making up about $1 in every $5 of New Zealand's export income it is vital that a natural resources based university like Lincoln should provide the highest quality education for the industry and its leaders of tomorrow. The new Chair in Dairy Production is designed to do exactly that."
Establishment of the Chair, which will hopefully be filled by mid-2004, follows a number of high profile investments by the University in support of New Zealand's dairy industry.
Its $1.6 million dairy conversion two years ago started the ball rolling, and Lincoln now boasts a state-of-the-art dairy farm covering 185 hectares, with two centre pivot irrigators servicing almost 90 percent of it, and a herd of 650 being milked through a 50-bail rotary shed.
The farm, already being used for research and teaching, is at the heart of the campus-based South Island Dairying Development Centre (SIDDC), opened in November 2001 as a joint venture between Lincoln University, Dexcel Ltd, South Island dairy farmers (as represented by the South Island Dairy Event, SIDE), Crop and Food Research Ltd and Ravensdown Fertiliser Co-operative Ltd.
In addition, there are currently 28 dairy industry funded scholarship holders studying at Lincoln University and the new Professor of Dairy Production will work with staff of the funding agency, Dexcel, to provide leadership and support for these students.
These scholars have been described by Dexcel CEO Dr John Caradus as the industry's "bright young hopes of tomorrow".
Dexcel, along with other industry groups welcomes the move by Lincoln to establish a Chair in Dairy Production.
Dr Caradus says that Dexcel as a partner in the South Island Dairying Development Centre is pleased to see the profile of dairying in the South Island raised by Lincoln University's decision to establish a Chair in Dairy Production.
"This is a great step forward that will ensure we have an increasing number of high quality students graduating with a desire to work in the dairy industry," says Dr Caradus.
Similarly, Rodney Green, CEO of Ravensdown Fertiliser Co-operative, says that Lincoln University has carried out some world-class research that has the potential to very significantly change the science and economics of dairy farming and the appointment of a Chair in Dairy Production will enhance this even further.
Farmer Alvin Reid of South Canterbury, a Dexcel Board member and dairy farmer on the SIDDC Board, says that the appointment of a Professor in Dairy Production at Lincoln will certainly be well accepted by the dairy industry at dairy farm level, especially in the South Island.
"Lincoln University has made a substantial commitment to the South Island dairy industry over the past couple of years," he says, "particularly with the investment in a large scale dairy unit and the association and formation of the South Island Dairying Development Centre. This appointment will further strengthen that commitment to South Island dairying.
"The growth in South Island dairying over the past couple of decades has brought with it a need for staff with a high calibre of skills and talents. It is important that places such as Lincoln play a leading role in the education and training of staff to help them develop the skills to be able to run these large businesses in the future. The training and education of our future dairy farmers is a key to the future success of our industry. This Chair in Dairy Production will have an important role in influencing education and training activities within the industry.
"The Chair in Dairy Production will certainly enhance the identification and assessment of research opportunities. Lincoln already leads the industry in some of its research work, for example in the environmental programmes, and this appointment will further enhance that leadership.
"I am sure that this appointment will add value to the whole dairying effort in the South Island, and it is great to see the ongoing commitment that Lincoln is demonstrating to the industry," says Mr Reid.
For further information contact
Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury
Tel: (03) 3252811 ext 8549.
Email: Ian Collins