Ideas That Grow

Ethan Gillespie discusses his experience of the 2025 Horticulture New Zealand Leadership Programme; how it broadened his understanding of leadership, advocacy, and strategic decision-making.  He shares insights into his own leadership development, industry collaboration, and the pathways available for emerging leaders in New Zealand's horticulture sector.

In this Ideas that Grow Podcast, Murray King, 2003 Nuffield Scholar and Rural Leaders Board Board member, talks to Bryan Gibson Managing Editor at Farmers Weekly, and shares his journey from horticulture and the 1980s agricultural downturn, through farm management consultancy in South Canterbury, to running the family farm in Nelson and chairing organisations including LIC. Now on the selection si...

Kate Tomlinson, Mackenzie Charitable Foundation Scholarship winner, talks to Bryan Gibson Managing Editor at Farmers Weekly, and shares her journey from a UK farm to New Zealand, where Kate now blends practical farming with sustainability and data insights in her role with Map of Ag. As a current Kellogg Programme participant, Kate is set to research cultural diversity in Canterbury’s dairy workfo...

Alice Rule, Hawke’s Bay winemaker and 2019 Kellogg Scholar, discusses her journey from a Bay of Islands farm to the wine industry, her circular glass economy research, leadership lessons from Kellogg, and balancing entrepreneurship, rural advisory work, and family amid uncertain wine markets.

In this episode of the Ideas That Grow Podcast, 2025 Kellogg Scholar Tim Orlando-Reep shares how his Waikato beef farm integrates carbon forestry, biodiversity ambitions and catchment collaboration.  While pine credits stack up financially, his research through the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme explores how native plantings can balance profitability with environmental impacts.

In this episode of Ideas That Grow, Farmers Weekly managing editor Bryan Gibson speaks with Lisa Rogers, outgoing CEO of Rural Leaders. Lisa reflects on her nine-year tenure, the evolution of Rural Leaders, and the enduring impact of flagship programmes like Kellogg and Nuffield. She explores how leadership development, collaboration, and a strong alumni network have helped shape confident, capabl...

In this episode of Ideas That Grow, Bryan Gibson, Farmers Weekly Managing Editor, talks to Dr. Victoria Westbrooke, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Land Management and Systems at Lincoln University. Victoria discusses the  Engage Programme , a three-day professional development initiative run in partnership between Lincoln University and Rural Leaders, designed to bridge the gap between agrib...

In this episode of Ideas That Grow, Bryan Gibson, Farmers Weekly managing editor, talks to Richard Green, farmer, director and 2025 Value Chain Innovation Programme alum.  Richard discusses his background and his Value Chain Innovation Programme experience, and offers keen insight into why understanding value chains and value chain models is so important for anyone wanting to take advantage of the...

Thomas Holmes is an arable farmer and a 2024 Kellogg Scholar. In this podcast he talks to Bryan Gibson, Farmers Weekly managing editor, about his family farm’s evolution, overseas experience, his Kellogg research report and his Kellogg experience. Thomas unpacks his report’s ‘what next’ view of arable farming in Canterbury. He discusses profitability challenges, diversification, and integration wi...

In this episode of Ideas That Grow, Bryan Gibson, Farmers Weekly managing editor, talks to Richard Dawkins, 2023 Kellogg Scholar and Marlborough sheep and beef farmer. He is also the new meat and wool chair for Federated Farmers. Richard discusses his family’s diverse 602-hectare farm operation, which includes sheep, cattle, forestry, and viticulture. He shares his experiences abroad and how retur...

In this podcast, Hugh Ritchie, 2000 Nuffield Scholar and Hawke’s Bay farmer, shares his leadership journey and insights with Farmers Weekly managing editor Bryan Gibson. Hugh discusses growing Drumpeel Farms into a diverse 2000-hectare operation, the impact of his Nuffield experience on his personal growth, and on irrigation and strip tillage and the need for better water infrastructure. He emphas...

Jenni Vernon, 1994 Nuffield Scholar, farmer and director, talks to Farmers Weekly managing editor Bryan Gibson about her leadership journey, her Nuffield experience, research, and on not underestimating the power of face-to-face communication in a sometimes-disconnected social media age. 

Phil Weir, 2020 Nuffield Scholar, farmer, farmer director for BLNZ and associate director for AGMARDT, talks to Farmers Weekly managing editor Bryan Gibson about the positive value industry good brings to farming. Phil also talks through some of the challenges and opportunities for sheep and beef farming and how his Nuffield Scholarship and research has given him a valuable global perspective. 

In this Ideas that Grow podcast, Lisa Lunn, 2024 Kellogg Scholar, talks to Bryan Gibson, Managing Editor at Farmers Weekly about her Kellogg research into the use of genetic technologies in agriculture. Lisa’s research presents a balanced view that unpacks the challenges, and the opportunities genetic technologies offer the food and fibre sector.

In this Ideas that Grow podcast, Dave Nuku, 2024 Kellogg Scholar, talks to Bryan Gibson, managing editor at Farmers Weekly, about his work with Ngamanawa Incorporation, his Kellogg experience, and adopting a philosophy of kaitiakitanga in business.

In this podcast, Esther Donkersloot, 2024 Kellogg Scholar, talks to Bryan Gibson, managing editor at Farmers Weekly, about her research with LIC on breeding heat tolerant cows. Esther came to New Zealand to do her Masters’ thesis and never left. Good thing too. Having studied at the prestigious Wageningen University, she has steadily built a career looking into better genetic outcomes for our dair...

Jack Cocks, 2021 Kellogg Scholar, talks to Farmers Weekly managing editor Bryan Gibson about his research into resilience in the face of adversity. Jack, who works on Mt. Nicholas Station with his family, faced his own adversity in the form of a brain aneurysm that sparked a recovery journey spanning 15 surgeries over six years. He shares the three things all resilient and thriving farmers have in...

In this episode, Lisa Rogers, Rural Leaders CEO, talks to host Bryan Gibson, Farmers Weekly managing editor, about the recently released report ‘A Path to Realising Leadership Potential in Aotearoa NZ’s Food and Fibre Sector’, along with its leadership development framework, and the leadership programmes serving as key tools for building more and ever greater leaders. Rogers says while Rural Leade...

Halfway through the 2024 Scholarship Programme, Scholar Rachel Baker gives us a unique perspective from inside Nuffield. Rachel speaks with Bryan Gibson, Farmers Weekly managing editor, about some of the similarities and differences between the farming systems in the countries visited so far with New Zealand’s. She discusses insights from Indonesia’s farming industries, France’s love of food, Denm...

Farmers Weekly managing editor Bryan Gibson speaks to Campbell Parker, chief executive officer at DairyNZ.  Campbell discusses his involvement with the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme and how leading with authenticity can go a long way to helping us all achieve big things in a time of rapid change.

Farmers Weekly managing editor Bryan Gibson speaks to Jen Corkran, senior animal protein analyst at Rabobank and a 2023 Kellogg Scholar.  Jen discusses her day job to provide red meat insights to clients and farmers. She also unpacks what her Kellogg research tells us about trust, truth and the way farmers take on information.

Dr Matt Sowcik is currently on sabbatical from his role as Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and leadership at University of Florida. As part of his tour, he joined the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme in Lincoln. He spoke to Scholars (and Bryan Gibson) about the power of humility in leadership and its role in working together for a common cause.

Emma Crutchley, 2018 Kellogg Scholar, talks to Bryan Gibson, Farmers Weekly managing editor about some of the challenges sheep and beef farming faces in a water-short region, her Kellogg research, the Value Chain Innovation Programme, and the work being done on ‘Puketoi’ to find the value-add.

In an innovation story that covers the journey from an idea to the challenges of development, and to implementation. Julia Galwey, 2020 Kellogg Scholar, talks about Pearl Veal NZ, a new sustainable utilisation of the bobby calf resource. Pearl Veal NZ was the winner of the Silver Fern Farms Market Leader Award at the 2023 Beef+LambNZ Awards.

In this podcast, Dr Alison Stewart, CEO at the Foundation for Arable Research, talks with Farmers Weekly's Managing Editor, Bryan Gibson, about the role of arable in agriculture, her role at FAR and delivering research that benefits growers. Dr Stewart also discusses her involvement with the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme and the importance of exposure to diversity of thought for leaders in Fo...