History of the NZ Grassland Association
Chapter 1: Introduction
New Zealand’s grasslands are widespread and variable to anyone travelling through the regions and seeing the different farming systems. I have heard it said that on a farm every pasture is different and each paddock is unique. The soil type, environment, livestock type and each farmer’s management of livestock interact to cause such variations.
Chapter 2: Presidents
Alfred Hyde Cockayne was the original pioneer of grassland philosophy and pasture research in New Zealand. He was also the first NZGA President and Life Member and the son of Dr Leonard Cockayne, the illustrious botanist renowned for his work on the indigenous vegetation of New Zealand.
Chapter 3: Life Members
The Life Members of NZGA are bestowed with the title as an appreciation of their prolonged service to the organisation. Many of them have also served on the Local Organising Committees, presented papers at conferences, served on the Executive Committee, as President and then contributed to the NZ Grassland Trust. Others have put extra effort in other ways to ensure NZGA’s continuing success.
Chapter 4: Researchers
The enthusiasm of Cockayne and Levy, the graduation of the first crop of agricultural students from Massey College, the proximity of the Plant Research Bureau to Massey and the visit of British pasture pioneers Sir George Stapledon and William Davies – all these ingredients came together to establish NZGA as an industry thought tank.
Chapter 5: Academics
You never stop learning. The teachers pass on valuable information to the students, who can also give valuable feedback to the teachers.
Chapter 6: Ray Brougham Trophy winners
When leading grasslander Dr Ray Brougham died in late 1993, his family had a bronze statue created to commemorate his life efforts, and they donated this to the NZ Grassland Trust, who decided to award this Trophy to those people they considered had significantly advanced the country’s pastoral industry in some way.
Chapter 7”: Other NZGT Award winners
NZGA began recognising excellence in 1957 when Stephen Saxby received the first ever Special Award. When the Grassland Memorial Trust (GMT) was formed, following the sudden death of Dr Peter Sears, it created a Stapledon Memorial Award as a travelling fellowship.
Chapter 8: The Advisors
The Department of Agriculture, formed in 1892, offered free advice to farmers and set up experimental farms and its Fields Division to promote the results of farm trials. This was all at no cost to the farmers.
Chapter 9: Agribusinesss sector
The commercial sector was a keen participant in NZGA right from the start. It was an Australian businessman representing the giant British company, Imperial chemical Industries (ICI), who suggested the formation of a forum for grasslands people in January 1931.
Chapter 10: Administrators
Someone had to do it - keep the records, administer the Executive Committee, ensure the Conferences were organised, and that the subscriptions and the bills were paid.
Chapter 11: The Farmers
They were what it was all about over the years - those who are the working livestock farmers. They should be receiving the information disseminated from the Annual Grassland Conferences, as they can benefit from the innovations revealed at these meetings.
Chapter 13: History
In 1963 the well-known Dr Peter Sears, director of DSIR Grasslands and strong supporter of the NZ Grassland Association (NZGA), died suddenly while at a directors’ meeting in DSIR Head Office, Wellington.
As a result of this sad and sudden news the NZGA Executive Committee met and agreed to set up an associated organisation - then identified as the Grassland Memorial Trust (GMT) - with a view to commemorating the great leaders in New Zealand’s grassland progress.
Chapter 14: Conference Presentations
The Grassland Conferences began as meetings around a table in January 1931 and the first real conference took place at what is now Lincoln University in 1933. While the main focus was on the agenda, in subsequent years it evolved into a series of conference sessions and a field trip relevant to the region where the conference was being held.