Executive summary

The Waipaoa Station Farm Cadet Training Trust (the Trust) was settled in 2006. The concept was based on the Smedley model of taking in excellent candidates on a two year ‘hands on’ training program. Initially the Trust relied on start up funding from a number of private individuals, charitable trusts, Meat and Wool New Zealand and other industry groups and funders of training organisations e.g. AgITO and Agmardt. The initial funding fell short of the total amount required to setup the training facilities to the standard required to attract high calibre cadets. A term loan was taken out by the Trust to assist in funding the setup costs. This loan is currently guaranteed by five local farmers at $50,000 each. In 2010 the Trust is still heavily reliant on sponsorship, donations and fundraising to fund the operating budget.

The Waipaoa Station owners offered the Trust the use of the station and its facilities as a training platform, and the use of the redundant buildings at “Moonlight” as the training HQ. The Trust initially leased the Moonlight facility from Waipaoa Station for 10 years (with a 10 year right of renewal) and concurrently entered into an agreement to use Waipaoa as a training platform for the cadets.

The first year of operation was 2007 were the Trust had five full time first year cadets. From 2008 the Trust has had 10 full time cadets, five are in their first year and five are in their second year. The type of cadets the Trust attracts have the potential to manage large scale sheep and cattle properties, go on with further tertiary education and possibly become industry leaders. The Trust curriculum consists of two year's training by cadets; the first year as a junior and the second year as a senior. The latter is an extension of the former and provides cadets with good solid practical training and in-class qualifications to level 4.

As a result, Trust graduates are “work ready” when they start employment and are capable of housing and feeding themselves. In short they require minimal “nurturing”. They have skills in pasture harvesting, stock management, genetic improvement, staff (human resource) management, marketing and pro-active climatic situation management that all combine to give them a solid platform to become complete “agri-businessmen” built on an excellent basic farm skills base.

The increasing prominence of the “corporate farm”, coupled with intensification requires people at management level who are much more rounded than the traditional shepherd. There is also a growing desire to have staff with a culture of learning, as the technical and business skills required become more complex and commonplace. Graduates that leave the Trust are able to demonstrate an excellent grounding in these core competencies.

As a result of feedback from graduate employers the board believes the Waipaoa Station Farm Cadet Training Trust has a working model providing an ongoing supply of highly skilled cadets to the agricultural sector. There are possibilities to expand the scope of the training to a larger number of cadets. Currently this is limited by:

• Independence – the Waipaoa Station Farm Cadet Training Trust does not own Waipaoa Station
• Scale - Waipaoa Station is not big enough to keep more than 10 cadets busy and the accommodation at Moonlight is limited to 10 cadets.
• Training capacity – If the Trust was to ‘ramp up’ the cadet numbers there may be a requirement to get the Cadet Manager some assistance and there is a risk that the larger number of cadets would dilute the Cadet Manager’s focus.

 

The strategy going forward over the next five years is targeted to deliver two key outcomes:

1. To continue to operate successfully under the current structure, build on the training model and increase the Trust’s ability to produce top      class cadets in line with the original objectives.

2. To gain independent control of a suitable amount of land that will sustain the Waipaoa model in perpetuity. This may involve the purchase of     Waipaoa Station, and over time increase the land area in a fiscally responsible manner. Or it could mean moving the Waipaoa Station Farm Cadet Training Trust to another property.

In either case this will involve:

Actively pursuing potential benefactors to gain substantial funding required for a property purchase.

Investigating alternative ownership structures that would satisfy the needs of both the current owners/new owners and the Trust. Eg The Trust purchasing the property with a leaseback to the owners.

Increasing the number of cadets. This will have the added advantage of achieving economies of scale and reducing the overall cost per cadet trained.

The Trust Board continues to believe that in order to provide competitiveness/sustainability the activities must continue to focus on building scale and at the same time leverage on the excellent reputation that the Trust has established for turning out top class graduates.