More social events and knowledge-sharing is needed to bridge the rural-urban divide, a Young Farmers club member has said.
When Penny Stilgoe isn’t operating heavy machinery on Longbeach Estate, she’s the treasurer for the Pendarves arm of Young Farmers.
“We’ve had a massive growth over recent years.
“It used to be a very generational club, and now we’ve got people from all over the show, all aspects of life.”
She said real estate agents, accountants, electricians and more have joined the group.
That’s allowed the club to educate non-farmers about agriculture and the work that goes into stock and crops.
“Everyone talks about the rural-urban divide, and while it’s present in New Zealand, I think we probably work it up to be bigger than it actually is.”
“It is quite scary when you go overseas and see the extent of the divide, the disconnect.”
Stilgoe has visited farms around the world, from Australia to England, and said the attitude towards farmers there is a lot less friendly.
“You overhear conversations in the supermarket, people don’t understand that chocolate milk does not come from a brown cow, things like that.
“Even being on moving machinery on the road, and the need for [dashboard] cameras overseas because there’s so much anger towards farmers.”
On top of the lack of public support, strict regulations, depleting subsidies and decreasing product value beat farmers across the world down to a degree New Zealand hasn’t experienced yet, she said.
“Those countries are incredibly similar to us, but the differences are huge.
“New Zealand agriculture is struggling, and we are facing a backwall, but there is so much opportunity and we are so fortunate to be farming and working in the area that we do.”
While some Kiwis have misconceptions about farming, she said most people “know where their food comes from”.
Getting out of New Zealand and seeing how farming works in other countries was an eye opener for Stilgoe, who did so through Young Farmers exchanges.
The group also offers scholarships for university and trades related to agriculture.
“it’s so important that you get to go away and appreciate the challenges overseas, and be able to come home and appreciate the opportunities and the freedom that we have here.”
On our own soil, Stilgoe has done some educational events through Young Farmers to start raising the next batch of agriculture experts.
The club make appearances at schools to teach kids where their food comes from, and what work goes into having a farm.
“Touching base with schools is great, kids soak up a lot of information and then they go home and share it with their parents.”
Heading into 2025, Stilgoe looks forward to running more social events to get rural folk off-farm, and to spreading agricultural awareness to those outside of the sector.
By Anisha Satya
