Future work in rural Southland

The New Zealand Kellogg Rural Leaders Programme develops emerging agribusiness leaders to help shape the future of New Zealand agribusiness and rural affairs. Lincoln University has been involved with this leaders programme since 1979 when it was launched with a grant from the Kellogg Foundation, USA.Southland is a rich farming area. It has a reliable climate, fertile soils and a variety of topography. Its cool winters help to keep pests and diseases at bay. While New Zealand itself is renowned as a very favoured farming country, Southland produces well above national average yields in all its established products. Therefore it can be expected that our economy will continue to be overwhelmingly reliant on our established pastoral and cropping industries. This report is focused mainly on opportunities to increase variety and quality of life in rural Southland