"We need to get kids to understand that when people talk about jobs in agriculture, they're not talking about down-on-the-farm labour jobs."
Powdrell says "we want to put the positive side of farming out there. The jobs are rewarding. They are diverse in nature. There's a specific lifestyle that goes with these careers that we aren't doing enough to sell
"Also, technology is playing a huge part in farming. I'm of the hope that the technology side will drag a lot of young people in -- young people that we need."
University of Waikato's Professor Jacqueline Rowarth is enthusiastic about what education -- at all levels -- can do for agribusiness in New Zealand.
"I'm heartened by the uptake of agribusiness subjects over the last few years. We are finally getting the message across that the business pays good money," she says. "To position the industry better, right down at the school level, students need to be told not to be afraid of the harder maths and science subjects because they're gateways to the industry."
Rowarth says education goes beyond just selling high school graduates on a career in agribusiness. "Much of what we're doing concerns the economics of how farmers can best position themselves in terms of this time of volatility.
"It's all well and good to fill the industry with young employees, but we must maximise the output of those people once they're in the industry."
Claire Massey, Professor at Massey University, echoes the sentiment. "We're dealing with changing demographics, changing geopolitical power away from Europe and towards Asia, and changes in technology meaning huge buying pattern changes.
"If you look at those three factors alone, it actually creates an incredibly complicated puzzle. Because of that getting good information to the farmer is absolutely imperative," she says. "Having informed and educated commentary on the modern issues and ideas, and providing forums for good, constructive comments about the data universities and research institutes collect is so important."
The complexity of these issues makes the creation of Massey University's Te Puna Whakatipu initiative more relevant than ever. A small team led by Massey, Te Puna Whakatipu is focused on responding quickly to industry inquiries and engaging the best expertise to transform agri-food business.
Further south, Lincoln University's long-awaited innovation hub is taking shape. Called the Lincoln Hub, the initiative is a joint venture between the university, AgResearch, Plant & Food Research, Landcare Research and Dairy NZ to deliver science, technology and transfer capability more effectively and efficiently to the New Zealand farming sector.
The project involves some 900 scientists and industry specialists collaborating to generate innovative ideas it hopes will generate new export opportunities for the sector and drive its growth generally.
The industry these days isn't just about being a farmer - it's about the the myriad of people around them, from lawyers to irrigation specialists.
The next month should see the unveiling of a re-tooled master-plan for the project, involving a massive rebuild at the Lincoln University campus to accommodate the hub.
Powdrell says more secondary schools are making an effort to promote agriculture as a career -- particularly St Paul's Collegiate and Mt Albert Grammar School.
St Paul's announced it was developing a new agriculture curriculum in 2014 and is now seeking a national roll-out in 2017
. The course includes risk management, microbiology, food science and agribusiness accounting.
A trial at St Paul's last year saw 16 of the 20 Year 13 students go on to study an agriculture-focused degree at the tertiary level. The pilot programme will expand to seven more schools next year.
Though efforts are increasing at college level, there's been a drought in the tertiary institutions.
"We used to have a lot of tertiary papers around wool classing and the like, and unfortunately they've fallen by the wayside in recent years," Powdrell explains.
"We've had silly situations the last couple of years where students have gone to take those papers at Lincoln or Massey that once existed but have been dropped.
"Ultimately, if we're going to educate a new generation of agriculturalists, then we've got to make sure that we have the courses that cover what we want them to do."
Rowarth says agribusiness as a major and specialisation at University of Waikato started in 2012, and since then "we've gathered over 200 enrolments throughout the degree and up to the masters level.
"'The number of students enrolled in the first year paper alone is 54, which is a very encouraging sign. Given the prospects for agribusiness grads, enrolment shouldn't be a hard sell.'
"Our agribusiness grads are getting (paid) on average 40 per cent more than their non-agri grad counterparts," she says.
"What's so great about Waikato is that virtually anyone, in any degree, can pick up an agribusiness paper.
"The way our economy is structured, it will never hurt to get more of an understanding in agribusiness."
