About Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars

Message from the Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars Chairman

The long-term capacity of Australian agriculture to compete and succeed internationally will be determined by the ability of Australian farmers to recognise changing consumer preferences, adopt new technologies and productin practices and maintain the sustainability of their operations by protecting their production environment.

To do this they need to be knowledgeable about the forces shaping international trade policy in key markets, the issues behind consumer sentiment and the technological advances being made by producers in other countries. They need to be able to digest this information and then use it to make rational management decisions, which position their farming enterprises to benefit from international opportunities as they arise.

They need the confidence to back their judgement and make the changes necessary to grow, and providing young Australian farmers with this knowledge and confidence is the heart of the Nuffield Australia Farming Scholarship program.

Nuffield Scholars have shown they have the capacity and desire to learn about the international agricultural marketplace. They have impressed the Selection Panel with their achievements, drive to succeeed and vision for the future.

Through their scholarships they will return better equipped to manage their operations for future growth and they share these benefits widely and generously with their communities and industries.

The Nuffield Farming Scholarship program is a very targeted and proven way of investing directly into the advancement of Australian agriculture. The benefits of the Nuffield Scholarship do not cease on the Scholars' return to Australia. Rather, as a consequence of his or her experience, the Scholar is generally committed to a life-long involvement in the international Nuffield network driven by a thirst for continued learning.

The Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars is a non-profit organisation administered professionally but supported in the main by voluntary contributions made by its members. Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars willingly give their time and expertise back to the organisation to, in some small way, repay it for the opportunities it presented them with personally.

The Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars Foundation is critical to the managed expansion and sustainability of the scholarship programme. We are committed to offering this wonderful opportunity to a greater number of worthy young Australian farmers and seek your support to do this.

David Brownhill
Chairman, Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars