29 year old young woman wins the championship of the New Zealand Kiwi Horticulture Annual Young Grower Competition 29岁年轻女性荣获新西兰猕猴桃园艺年度青年种植者比赛冠军
Marsden, who is the kiwifruit manager at Willisbrook Orchards in Brightwater, pitched her skills against five fellow contestants to take the title.
▲Marsden the championship of the New Zealand Kiwi Horticulture
She will now go on to compete against six other regional winners in Horticulture New Zealand’s national Young Grower of the Year competition, to be held in Christchurch in September.
Marsden, 29, grew up on a dairy farm on the West Coast of the South Island, gained a Bachelor of Agriculture from Lincoln before starting her career in the dairy sector.
▲充分授粉的红心猕猴桃
An accident when she was kicked by a cow, resulting in a wrist injury, made milking difficult so she began looking for corporate roles in the primary sector.
“I hadn’t found anything. My parents were moving to Nelson and I saw a job advertised as an apples supervisor with Willisbrook so I applied. It was so nice to get a ‘yes’ from them.”
She quickly found she really enjoyed working in horticulture.
“I have always been passionate about all of the primary industries and the importance they have to New Zealand. I really enjoyed working in dairy farming, but I noticed a lot of differences in horticulture.
▲Golden kiwifruit after artificial pollination
“Agriculture has come a long way in terms of accessibility for females, but I went from being the only female in my dairy job to working with a lot more. There is less brute strength required, which makes horticulture very accessible for everyone.”
Marsden also found there’s a lot of scope for professional development, both learning on the job and through external providers.
Willisbrook supported her to gain the New Zealand Certificate in Horticulture Production – Fruit Production at Level 3 and 4 through Primary ITO.
▲Red heart kiwifruit orchard in Sichuan Province, China
After two years with the company, Marsden moved to Ballance Agri-Nutrients as nutrient specialist for the Tasman Buller region. She enjoyed her role but found she missed the practical side of working in horticulture, so last October she returned to Willisbrook.
“I didn’t have experience in kiwifruit so I knew, coming back, that I would need a good network around me as I got my feet planted and Willisbrook has really provided that. I have had so much support.
▲使用锂电池的猕猴桃电动授粉机
“I’m managing the permanent and seasonal staff, so up to 30 people at peak times. There are so many different aspects to the work and, for me personally I really enjoy that I can still get to do a lot of practical stuff and am not just in an office.”
Runner-up in the Nelson competition was Tasman Valley Young Farmers chair Georgia Steele. Third place went to Caleb Aarsen, who is currently studying towards a Diploma in Horticulture at Lincoln University.
Amelia Marsden赢得了Nelson 2025青年种植者地区冠军。
Marsden是Brightwater Willisbrook Orchards的猕猴桃经理，她与五位参赛者一起展示了自己的技能，以获得冠军。
她现在将继续与其他六位地区冠军在9月在克赖斯特彻奇举行的新西兰国家园艺年度青年种植者比赛中竞争。
▲高山红心猕猴桃果园
29岁的Marsden在南岛西海岸的一个奶牛场长大，在开始从事乳制品行业之前，她从林肯大学获得了农业学士学位。
在一次事故中，她被一头奶牛踢了一脚，导致手腕受伤，挤奶变得困难，于是她开始在初级部门寻找公司职位。
“我什么也没找到。我的父母要搬到纳尔逊，我看到Willisbrook的苹果主管的招聘广告，于是我申请了。能得到他们的肯定真是太好了。”
她很快发现自己真的很喜欢园艺工作。
▲高山红心猕猴桃果园
“我一直对所有初级产业及其对新西兰的重要性充满热情。我真的很喜欢在奶牛场工作，但我注意到园艺有很多不同。
“农业在女性可及性方面已经取得了长足的进步，但我从乳制品工作中唯一的女性变成了与更多女性一起工作。所需的体力更少，这使得园艺对每个人来说都很容易。”
▲kiwi pollen company
Marsden还发现，无论是在职学习还是通过外部提供者学习，都有很大的职业发展空间。
Willisbrook支持她通过初级ITO获得新西兰园艺生产证书——3级和4级水果生产。
在公司工作两年后，Marsden加入Ballance Agri Nutrients，担任塔斯曼布勒地区的营养专家。她很喜欢自己的角色，但发现自己错过了园艺工作的实际方面，所以去年十月她回到了威利斯布鲁克。
“我没有猕猴桃的经验，所以回来后我知道，在我站稳脚跟的时候，我需要一个良好的人际网络，而Willisbrook真的做到了这一点。我得到了很多支持。
“我负责管理长期和季节性员工，所以在高峰时段最多有30人。工作有很多不同的方面，对我个人来说，我真的很喜欢我仍然可以做很多实际的事情，而不仅仅是在办公室里。”
尼尔森比赛的亚军是塔斯曼谷青年农民主席乔治娅·斯蒂尔。第三名是Caleb Aarsen，他目前正在林肯大学攻读园艺文凭。
▲高山红心猕猴桃果园
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