Forging a path for other young Maori women to follow

PrimaryITO Media release
16 May 2016

Confidence and self-belief have always help Ash-Leigh Campbell achieve her goals in the dairy industry – and she hopes her success will inspire more young Maori women to follow her lead.

“You have to back yourself. If you know you can do it, everyone around you will eventually buy into that too,” she says.

The enthusiastic 25 year-old from Lincoln is one of three finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Young Māori Dairy Farmer Awards and has big career ambitions.

“I don’t see myself as an industry leader now but the journey I’m on will hopefully fulfil that in future.

“I definitely want to make an imprint on Maori farming in New Zealand and become an ambassador for others. I especially want to publicise that Maori females can do it.”

Ash-Leigh’s farming career began in unlikely circumstances when her parents decided to buy her a car while she was at Lincoln High School.

“They told me ‘if you want to drive it you have to get a job and buy petrol’. I then saw a job advertised for relief milking three times a week after school. The farm owner, Darryl Petheram, was completely shocked to see a small teenage girl wanting to give it a go. He offered me the job so that’s how my involvement in the dairy industry got started.”

That job led onto a calf rearing position at Dunsandel, and eventually to a fulltime job managing a dry stock unit in Darfield. Ash-Leigh was sole charge of 2000 animals on a 500ha property, raising young stock so they could be re-distributed to the owner’s other properties.

“I grew them and got them pregnant before sending them back to six other farms as heifers in calf. It was a huge responsibility and a massive learning curve. I had just turned 22 so it was a pretty big deal.

“My employer, Mervyn Todd, had wanted to provide someone with the opportunity to step up. He saw potential that I might not have seen in myself at that stage, which I’ll forever be grateful for.”

While working, Ash-Leigh also enrolled with Primary ITO and completed Level 2, 3 and 4 papers in Milk Quality and Dairy Management. Last year she returned to fulltime study at Lincoln University to gain a Diploma in Agriculture.

“This year I’m doing a Diploma in Farm Management and then I want to do a B.Com Ag but I plan to do that part-time and get back into the workforce.”

Ash-Leigh believes education is vital in furthering her career in the agriculture industry.

“You’re going to get noticed more. Especially being a female, I feel by having the paperwork behind me future employers are more likely to recognise my skills.”

She says Primary ITO has been a wonderful “stepping stone.”

“The awesome thing about Primary ITO is the variety of levels there are available – it doesn’t matter what level you’re at, there’s somewhere for you to start and build on from there.”

While at university, Ash-Leigh has received a Whenua Kura scholarship funded by Te Tapuae o Rehua, Ngāi Tahu Farming and Lincoln University to help grow Maori leadership in agriculture. That prompted her to delve into her family history and also sparked her interest in entering the Ahuwhenua Awards.

“I wasn’t connected to my iwi or Maori culture 12 months ago so it’s been a real journey to find myself and my confidence. I’ve now researched my Ngāi Tahu genealogy and have a better understanding of where I’m from which is pretty cool.”

Ash-Leigh hopes to repay the confidence Ngāi Tahu has shown in her by working for them in future. She is particularly passionate about animal welfare, animal health and sustainable farming practices.

While she has big ambitions, her current focus is firmly on winning this year’s Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award. “I just thought ‘I’m going to do it and I’m going to be a top 3 finalist’. I definitely put a lot of effort into preparing my application and for the interview and I was absolutely stoked to be named a finalist.”

For more information, please contact:

Anna Cox, Primary ITO Communications Adviser on anna.cox@primaryito.ac.nz or call (04) 382 2853, or mobile 027 436 6469.

About Primary ITO

Primary ITO provides NZQA endorsed qualifications and training to people employed in the agriculture, horticulture, equine, seafood, sports turf and food processing industries.

The ITO provides leadership in education and training, develops national qualifications, maintains national standards and provides ongoing support for their trainees and employers.

Primary ITO training is subsidised by industry and Government.

For more information on Primary ITO please go to www.primaryito.ac.nz or call 0800 20 80 20.