Young Farmers and Primary ITO partner to support success

Terry Copeland

Primary ITO and NZ Young Farmers have partnered up to support young dairy, sheep, beef and deer farmers to achieve their goals.

"The NZ Young Farmers network - and the peer support and personal skills development it provides - is a valuable extension to the pastoral care that Primary ITO provides to trainees across the country," says Primary ITO GM customer services Alister Shennan.

"Recruiting and developing young people is an integral part of supporting primary industries businesses now and into the future. This can't stop at education - part of developing talent is nurturing it."

The partnership was launched at National Fieldays yesterday with a special offer - the first 100 Primary ITO trainees (aged 15-31) to visit the stand will receive a free NZ Young Farmers Club membership valued at $70 to encourage them to take advantage of this support while completing their training.

NZ Young Farmers CEO Terry Copeland says the alliance with Primary ITO will further strengthen the work NZ Young Farmers are doing in developing the future of the food sector.

"We see this partnership as another vital step in integrating the vital training Primary ITO does with the core values of NZ Young Farmers, and are proud of the strong relationship we are continuing to develop."

"Primary ITO is pleased to partner with NZ Young Farmers to support the capability growth of young people. It's a great fit - growth and achievement in the primary industries is a key focus for both organisations. We are looking forward to working together on more initiatives," says Mr Shennan.

Primary ITO develops and facilitates training to enable and support people to drive the success of New Zealand's primary industries.

Last year the ITO supported over 28,000 trainees - 66 per cent aged 34 or under.

NZ Young Farmers is a dynamic network for rural youth with over 1700 members.

* The Primary ITO and NZ Young Farmers Fieldays stand is on sites E1 and E3.