NICOLE MESMAN
I am a born and bred Cantabrian, from Christchurch, however I am continuing to spread my wings and experience the rural Mid-Canterbury. My childhood was filled with tramping, skiing and hunting holidays and from a young teenager I would say that I wanted to work with and in the environment and outdoors. Aside from rabbit shooting and hunting I never really did a lot on farms growing up. Lincoln drew me in at the end of high school, not for agriculture though but for biogeoscience (which I would realise was a fancy name for soil science).
Once I got to Lincoln though my perspective and direction started to change. It’s hard not to get roped into agriculture when at Lincoln. Especially when your friends are doing projects like putting nappies on cows, monitoring cows grazing throughout the night and separating different swards of grass from endless piles of clippings. They were always looking for helpers, the fun we had!
It was a third year soils paper that introduced me to precision ag. We were out digging holes at Craige Mackenzie’s to create a soil map and also determine if the properties of the soils we found agreed with his EM map (the relationship was a good one I will add). After this I spent my summer making cakes out of soil, sand and water to review soil moisture sensors and then continued with my honours which analysed the effect of grazing and irrigation on soil physical properties.
After Lincoln I worked for Lindsay as a summer student looking at their irrigation systems and EM mapping on various farms before going on to work for Ballance Agri-Nutrients. I am constantly learning more about agriculture and farming and I love it. Whenever I can find out about someone’s operation, learn from them and likewise share what I have learnt with them is a very good day.
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| Nicole fills up most of her weekends with outdoor pursuits; tramping, skiing, hunting and learning the ropes of day-to-day farm jobs
Nicole Mesman
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