True Radius

11/09/2025

WTF?! Three simple letters but they mean a lot.

I’m not keen on posting too much, but when I launched True Radius I committed to one post a week. This will be the second time I’ve tickled the keyboard this week, 100% because this is a subject I care deeply about.

When the Ministry of Education announced curriculum changes for Year 11–13, dropping agribusiness, agriculture, and horticultural science as standalone subjects, I saw it as a betrayal of the sector I love.

I’m just a "scody old shearer’s son". I grew up heading to sheds with Dad, with limited exposure to farming through my grandfather’s farm on one side and my two uncles’ farms on the other. But my real exposure came between ages 8 -12, earning 50 cents an hour helping the old boy look after his 250 beehives scattered around North Canterbury after he’d finished shearing for the day.

In my first year at Rangiora High School, I took Ag. It was an interest, not a calling. But despite growing up in town, I developed an intense passion in farming. Before 14, I was rousying every school holiday for the local shearing gang (thank you Mr Toshach), milking three times a week after school and three times on weekends, plus working on a pig and poultry farm after weekend milkings. I was tired, I was dirty but I was happy.

Agriculture became a core subject right through my high school years and shaped the path I chose. The money was good I bought beer, ci******es, and a $10,000 car. Not bad from a $7/hour work life. But ultimately, it wasn’t the money that attracted me. School finished and the sector became my career. It was the farming., it was the people., it was the industry and the sector as a whole.

So after 30-odd years of selling, seducing, soliciting, and farming within the primary sector, hearing this news was disappointing. It seems driven by that familiar urban-centric lens. To me, it’s not just about the loss of those who may have been enthusiastic labour in the sector. It’s not just a loss for students already passionate about our primary industries.

It’s a loss for the curious ones from urban backgrounds who might’ve discovered a future they didn’t know existed. It’s a loss for those who could be inspired.

It’s one hell of a loss in the future for someone who was once maybe be me.

11/09/2025

This is a disappointing move, driven by that familiar urban-centric lens. It’s not just a loss for students already passionate about our primary industries, it’s a loss for the curious ones from urban backgrounds who might’ve discovered a future they didn’t know existed.

Agribusiness, agriculture and horticulture science will not be a standalone curriculum subject under government plan.

18/08/2025

How would I take over the world if I didn’t want to use weapons, but rather social manipulation?
Is this a slight satirical look? Yes.
But it’s also a mirror.
And it’s a playbook we may need to re-write.. Read more at: https://wix.to/hEIn7YX

Ever wanted to rule the world? There is a certain ring to world domination, not that I have delusions of grandeur or anything! So, as one does, I found myself wondering how AI could bolster my evil genius plan. While other 50-somethings ask their AI "If you could be a vegetable what would you choose...

05/08/2025

Ever notice how the 'proper channels' sometimes lead you in circles? Here's a short look at what happened when I threw out the playbook and listened to different people in the community . Read all about it https://wix.to/WQgS6vz

Not that long ago, I did some engagement work that earned me a bit of flak. Nothing dramatic. Just a quiet WTF vibe from a few corners. Which, to be fair, was probably inevitable when the usual playbook wasn’t hauled out.It was a multi-faceted issue. Several players in the mix, a few competing age...

27/07/2025

Lately, headlines seem stuck on the cost of butter. Let's talk about the real costs, showing up, and the real impacts of our decisions. Check it out: https://wix.to/1LInlHh

Lately, headlines seem stuck on the cost of butter. It's being spread a bit thick, if you can pardon the pun. I get the concern, no one wants to take out a second mortgage for their bread-and-butter pudding. But somewhere we've missed the real conversation.We're an export nation living in a global p...

16/07/2025

Here’s one from the trail.

Recently my path crossed a farming family that have continuously farmed the same bit of dirt since 1914. With that long association comes knowledge of the land, its peculiarities, strengths, weaknesses - where it wants to give and where it'll fight you back. Maybe more importantly is the connection....

10/07/2025

We're hoping to make rural engagement more honest, meaningful, and effective. Whether you’re knee-deep in community work or just watching from the fenceline, your perspective matters.
I’ve put together a short survey to gather insights on what makes conversations and collaborations in rural spaces truly work. It’ll take just a few minutes, but your answers could help shape something bigger.

Share your rural engagement experiences with True Radius. This is your space to be heard, shape better conversations, and help build a model that actually works on the ground.

02/07/2025

This work doesn’t start with services—it starts with stories. Yours. We’ve put together a few quick questionnaires so we can learn, listen, and begin from where you truly are.
If you’ve got a few quiet minutes, I’d love to hear your perspective.

Share your rural engagement experiences with True Radius. This is your space to be heard, shape better conversations, and help build a model that actually works on the ground.

02/07/2025

https://www.trueradius.co.nz/post/where-are-the-village-people

We’ve all heard that saying – it takes a village to raise a child. But have we ever taken the time to unpack the meaning, or what it could mean? We’re probably familiar with the idea the saying conveys, that raising a child and doing it well is a communal effort. It’s about input from a myri...

02/07/2025

https://www.trueradius.co.nz/post/the-12-commandments-of-rural-engagement-hard-won-lessons-from-the-paddock

The "12 commandments" could have been catchier, but really, it's about trying to be a good person. Making sense of why people do what they do, and how you try and front up and make sure you're part of the solution, not the problem.It's been learnt by the cuts and bruises, bangs and scrapes, whether....