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Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Horticulture love pays off for Goodman
Lydia Goodman has won the Central Otago young grower title. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Lydia Goodman has won the 2025 Central Otago young grower regional title. The Cromwell woman is the assistant orchard manager at Central Orchard Management and packing manager at CentralPac. To take the title, she pitched her skills against four fellow contestants to win the regional event in Cromwell late last week. She will now go on to compete against six other regional winners in the young grower of the year final in Christchurch in September. The 26-year-old was raised on a beef and dairy farm in England and developed a passion for agriculture early. After moving to New Zealand, she transitioned from cattle and crops to cherries, discovering a love for horticulture. "I literally fell into it when I was a backpacker in Wānaka. "My working visa was about to expire, it was post-Covid and the industry was crying out for workers." She snapped up the government's offer of supplementary seasonal employer visas and started work in a cherry orchard in Tarras. "I just loved it, the outdoor work and the passion and leadership in the industry. I have been here ever since." Lydia now has five years of experience managing teams in both orchard and packhouse operations and holds level 3 and 4 certificates in fruit production. She entered the competition to develop her technical skills, build connections with like-minded professionals, and challenge herself. "It was a great experience completing seven modules across the day along with two practical components, and a speech in the evening. "The big one for me was pruning a tree in front of two big names in the field." She manages a team of 12 recognised seasonal employer workers as well as being a manager in the pack house. She loves the outdoor work and the passion and leadership in the industry. "One of the best things is teaching the team how to do their job and seeing the passion develop as they learn and understand things like the physiology of a tree. That really fuels me." Her ambition is to become a Central Otago cherry grower. The runners-up were Jared Loewen, from Stone House Gardens at Roxburgh, who is redeveloping his family's orchard to improve productivity and sustainability, and Mackenzie Maaka, of Cromwell, who is studying level 4 horticultural fruit production at polytechnic. — APL
Otago Daily Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Love of horticulture pays off for Goodman
Lydia Goodman has won the Central Otago Young Grower of the year title. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Lydia Goodman has won the 2025 Central Otago young grower regional title. The Cromwell woman is the assistant orchard manager at Central Orchard Management and packing manager at CentralPac. To take the title, she pitched her skills against four fellow contestants to win the regional event in Cromwell late last week. She will now go on to compete against six other regional winners in the young grower of the year final in Christchurch in September. The 26-year-old was raised on a beef and dairy farm in England and developed a passion for agriculture early. After moving to New Zealand, she transitioned from cattle and crops to cherries, discovering a love for horticulture. "I literally fell into it when I was a backpacker in Wanaka. "My working visa was about to expire, it was post-Covid and the industry was crying out for workers." She snapped up the government's offer of supplementary seasonal employer visas and started work in a cherry orchard in Tarras. "I just loved it, the outdoor work and the passion and leadership in the industry. I have been here ever since." Lydia now has five years of experience managing teams in both orchard and packhouse operations and holds level 3 and 4 certificates in fruit production. She entered the competition to develop her technical skills, build connections with like-minded professionals, and challenge herself. "It was a great experience completing seven modules across the day along with two practical components, and a speech in the evening. "The big one for me was pruning a tree in front of two big names in the field." She manages a team of 12 recognised seasonal employer workers as well as being a manager in the pack house. She loves the outdoor work and the passion and leadership in the industry. "One of the best things is teaching the team how to do their job and seeing the passion develop as they learn and understand things like the physiology of a tree. That really fuels me." Her ambition is to become a Central Otago cherry grower. The runners-up were Jared Loewen, from Stone House Gardens at Roxburgh, who is redeveloping his family's orchard to improve productivity and sustainability, and Mackenzie Maaka, of Cromwell, who is studying level 4 horticultural fruit production at polytechnic. — APL
