Tararua teenager wins Silver Fern Farms scholarship

Molly on left and sister Hannah with Ngakouka Herefords - a picture she used in her application.

Molly Donald, currently studying first-year Agricultural Science at Lincoln University, was one of five young people to be awarded a Silver Fern Farms Plate to Pasture youth scholarship in late July.

Open to students wanting to develop their career in the food or farming industry with interests in; red meat, farming, agriculture, marketing and sales, research and development, food processing, cooking and food technology this was exactly in line with Molly's interests and current studies. In addition to Agricultural Science she is taking marketing papers

Five of the recipients with Molly in orange at the Silver Fern Farms Conference Awards Ceremony in Wellington.

Red meat production and promoting red meat consumption has been part of Molly's life having been raised in Ngakouka Hereford Stud on Weber Rd east of Dannevirke. The stud started 21 years ago and has been selling Hereford bulls very successfully for the past five onsite.

She found out about the scholarship opportunity in a farming magazine and applied featuring some of Ngakouka's livestock. She was thrilled when the phone rang saying she had gained a Plate to Pasture Scholarship.

As part of her prize she joined the other four winners, sponsored by Silver Fern Farms at their conference in the TSB Centre in Wellington July 7-9 attending three days of workshops including a visit to a beef farm in the Wairarapa.

Holly says it was a real eye-opener seeing what Silver Fern Farms are doing including their launch of the 100 per cent Carbon Free Angus Pure product on the American market.

In addition to the sponsored trip to the conference the scholarship is worth $5000 to go towards her degree study at Lincoln University. She said any cash is vital to help her through her studies. She has also started part-time work calf rearing near Burnham to help pay for her studies.

Six annual $5000 scholarships were offered to provide a financial boost to young people to develop their red meat sector careers and capabilities in food and farming to applicants from the following Silver Fern Farms regions: Northland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Western North Island, Eastern North Island, Upper South Island, and Lower South Island.

Molly is no stranger to leadership and responsibility having been Head Student at Wairarapa College and its hostel in 2020. She has been active in outdoor education going to Outward Bound and also is awaiting to receive her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award from the governor-general.

She says once she has completed her studies her plan is to promote New Zealand's red meat products to the major markets overseas in a bid to counter the global trends towards plant-based diets, thereby helping farmers gain the best return on their farming operations.