Growing Future Farmers

A decade ago, Gisborne farmers Tam and Dan Jex-Blake decided to do something about the declining number of skilled young people entering the industry. Alongside a group of like-minded farmers, they helped establish the Growing Future Farmers programme to attract the next generation of positive, capable, values-driven farmers and strengthen rural communities. Their commitment to backing young people, supporting farmers, and building the future of New Zealand’s primary sector has shaped the organisation from the outset.

GFF now provides an ever-increasing number of aspiring young farmers the opportunity to learn to become farmers in a structured two-year training programme including real-time farm work from which they graduate with nationally recognised qualifications.

Growing good people who will shape the future of this country’s agricultural sector is the over-riding aim of the Growing Future Farmers (GFF) Trust. Students who sign up with GFF learn how to be confident and competent farmers, acquiring practical skills while obtaining nationally recognised formal qualifications and developing personally. 

With its first intake of just 10 students in 2020, the GFF scheme has grown to become the largest farmer-led vocational workforce training programme in the agricultural sector – 150 students this year (2026) and more already showing interest in being in next year’s intake. In fact, interest is so high that the trust is putting out the call for more farmers to step forward to be GFF farm trainers and boost the ranks of the farmers already involved in some 13 regions around the country. 

Mark Crawford, manager at Kokonga Farm in the Waikaretu district in North Waikato is a GFF farmer trainer. Kokonga covers 1040 effective hectares running 3500 Romney ewes, 1100 hoggets and 1000 Angus cattle including 240 breeding cows. All progeny are finished on farm.

Along with the breeding side, Kokonga also runs a trading component buying steers at 14–18 months and finishing them through to 340kg carcass weight, giving some flexibility in the farm’s system, Mark says. “Everything we do is driven by the end product. We’re focused on producing a really good eating experience, with a strong emphasis on marbling and overall carcass quality. That flows right through from our breeding decisions to how we finish stock. “We don’t just see the farm as a production unit; we see it as a place to grow people as well.

Being part of the GFF programme has fitted in well with how we like to operate. It’s about giving young people real hands-on experience, but also helping them understand the ‘why’ behind what we do.”

Mark says the first year for GFF students is about building the basics—fencing, water systems, knife skills, machinery, dog work, shearing handpiece skills and general stockmanship. “It’s getting stuck in and learning how to do the job properly.”

The second year shifts more into the stock side of farming —understanding the policies and decisions behind the system, and how stock are managed in order to hit our targets around performance and carcass quality. “For us, it’s not just about production. Seeing someone come in, learn, and move forward in the industry is just as important. Programmes like GFF are a big part of building the future of farming, and we see it as an investment in both the individual and the industry as a whole.”

Kokonga currently (May 2026) has GFF student Max Cornes working on-farm training to be a future farmer and Jess Cameron, a GFF graduate. Max has become a passionate shearer at Kokonga and is on target to graduate in November (2026) when he is planning to head to the Waitomo district to work on his grandparent’s sheep and beef farm. 

Jess completed her GFF studies in 2024 at Waimai Romney Stud in the Te Akau district north of Raglan Harbour where she trained under GFF farm trainer Tom Lilley, the farm manager, as well as owner Alastair Reeves. Jess was brought up on a lifestyle block near Kaukapakapa in the Kaipara district where the family had small pet animals and raised steers for the freezer. At just 17 years of age and while still a pupil at Kaipara College she signed on with GFF as it promised her a pathway into farming.

“My parents were very supportive – my mother always wanted to be a farmer herself and I signed up for the GFF training programme after spending a couple of gateway days on my uncle’s farm when I was still at school,” she says. “The GFF training was just a great experience.” After graduating Jess took her current job at Kokonga Farm and enjoys the rural lifestyle near the western coastline of north Waikato.

Max, who at 21 years of age is the oldest trainee currently studying, took a slightly different route to signing up to learn to be a future farmer. He left school in 2022 and before starting his GFF studies last year (2025) he spent two years employed as a tour guide at the Waitomo Caves. Max says pretty much he did grow up with farming in his blood as he helped out on his grandparents farm a few minutes down the road right from when he was about three years of age.

Initially his granddad was sceptical about the GFF programme and the need for it feeling that as he himself had been farming since he was 15 years of age, he could teach Max everything he needed to know. “Granddad’s really excited now he knows about everything I’m learning and rapt I’ve chosen farming – he sees me as his protégé, really.” Max says his mother, who wished she had taken up farming, was ‘over the moon’ when she learnt how seriously he was taking his studies. “The GFF programme is a great gateway to farming. I’ve especially enjoyed learning how to shear and how to train working dogs. I recommend GFF to anyone who’s serious about a farming career.”

Overall, GFF graduates say their farming and learning experience is life-changing, not only setting them up for careers in farming but also giving them the professional confidence to really make their mark in the sector while learning to take care of their personal growth and happiness.

The two-year training mostly attracts young people who are school leavers or tertiary graduates. From this year (2026), students pay an annual fee of $2,500 while receiving a weekly sponsorship allowance of $200. In previous years GFF has provided the training programme free of charge, however, the trust has now introduced the fee to generate a level of income to help towards ensuring the long-term viability and growth of the scheme. GFF currently receives funding from various sources including the Ministry for the Environment, Rabo Community Fund, B+LNZ and Fonterra.

Students work to a 44-week learning year. First off is the Essential Farm Skills Programme where experienced farmers teach the practical stuff. This includes how to train working dogs with each student receiving two pups to train up. Safety on the farm is also included. The Advanced Farm Skills and Agri-Business Management programme that comes next involves financial literacy, record-keeping, soil and pasture management, and animal welfare with workshops led by local professionals.

Living and working on farms for the duration of their course, students dedicate four days weekly to practical learning being instructed by their farm trainer, and one day away training with their local professional. The farm they are training on provides housing, either on-farm or nearby, with the accommodation being healthy home standard-certified and fully furnished with electricity and unlimited Wi-Fi also provided. Meat for the student’s consumption is also included while some of the farms that have gardens and orchards can also offer seasonal fruit and vegetables.   

Farm trainers encourage their students to get involved in their local community, to join the local young farmers’ club and sports clubs including rugby and golf – and even have a go at nearby dog trials to put their pup training skills to the test.

www.growingfuturefarmers.co.nz