Telford is toasting it’s Massey Diploma in Agriculture Class of 2020 with all graduates heading into full-time employment in the rural sector.

Telford’s programme manager Debbie Rankin is thrilled for the students.

“We are so proud of them all – they’ve done all the hard work themselves and committed to two years training, we just want them to do well, they certainly deserve their success,” she said.

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Telford is a faculty of the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) and runs the Massey Diploma in Agriculture (DipAg) programme, with many students completing a certificate year prior to committing to the diploma in year 2.

The 2020 class of DipAg students were all farming systems students from 2019, and had already gained level 3 New Zealand Certificate in Agriculture and New Zealand Certificate in Primary Industry Operational Skills.

Host farmers had played an important role in shaping Telford graduates, Ms Rankin said.

“The students gain work experience on up to twelve different farms including our own commercial units, Telford Farms, and in the process, they’re exposed to many different styles of farming. At the same time, they’re also networking and making connections within the farming community and this is crucial to their success.”  

DipAg graduate Anna Jordan will be starting her new role as a shepherd at Pamu Lynmore – a Landcorp farm in the Te Anau basin, in early December.

“I loved being able to do the dog training, and every day we learnt something new - I loved that it was different every day,” she said.  

She was grateful she had been pointed in the right direction for work by Telford’s work experience coordinator and tutor, Allan Roxburgh .

“At Telford you know everyone, it’s like a community of friends and family – everyone supports everyone,” she said.

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Mr Roxburgh said he was passionate about placing individual students into the right farm and helping them find jobs after they graduated.

The DipAg students were motivated and usually began actively job seeking from August onwards, he said.

It was not unusual to have most, or all graduates with jobs to go to, and farmers would also ring Telford looking for graduates, he said.

Mr Roxburgh said it was important graduates stuck to their first job for at least 18 months.

Attitude was "absolutely everything", he said.

There were no barriers for students who had not been raised on a farm: "if you have the right attitude, you’ll be successful,” he said.

“It’s my job to help build their confidence, help them set goals and help them to achieve them. Watching them plot a pathway to get to where they want is satisfying,” he said.

Telford will offer the Massey Diploma in Agriculture again in 2021 under the Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund, which means there are no course costs. Students pay for materials and accommodation.