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Generation Y-ine - Sophie Badland
Generation Y-ine
Biosecurity advisor wants every grape grower on the battlefield
SOPHIE PREECE
SOPHIE BADLAND knows plenty about frontline border security, after three years working as a quarantine officer at Wellington Airport, aided by a beagle named Fidget.
However, New Zealand Winegrowers’ (NZW) new biosecurity adviser is getting a taste for the fight in the field, working with grape growers, associated industries, government, science providers and foreign ports to help guard against incursions that could damage New Zealand’s wine industry. “I know the importance of everyone being on board, as opposed to it being left to the border staff,” she says, a few weeks into her new role.
Sophie is working alongside NZW biosecurity and emergency response manager Edwin Massey to educate growers on biosecurity threats and responses, while educating herself on the seasonal rhythm of grape growing. “I am starting to see the big picture now, in terms of how people can support the work being done at the border and before things get to the border.”
Sophie studied biomedical science at Victoria University, but soon realised that spending all day in a lab was not for her, so went on to train at teachers’ college. She taught high school science and biology for seven years, until she began to lament a whole life spent at school. “I wanted to get in and do something in science in real life - in the field - which was when the quarantine officer job came along.”
Her new role has already involved meeting growers and other industry members in Waipara and in Nelson, and attending a workshop at Lincoln University. That involved looking at a tool that evaluates how likely people are to adopt a new initiative, according to the parameters entered. If put into practice, she and Edwin would use the resource to assess the likelihood of growers and contractors putting in place industry-good practices to improve biosecurity outcomes.
Winning hearts and minds is key to the success of the team’s work, so that instead of the industry being reliant on the safeguards put in place at borders, it has an army of biosecurity experts in every vineyard, she says.
The biggest risk right now is the brown marmorated stink bug, “not just for the wine industry but horticulture in general”, she says. “It’s the one that is mostly likely to get in and most likely to cause a lot of damage.” She has also been involved in work focusing on Xylella fastidiosa and Pierces disease, including looking at other industries that would be hit by that incursion, and assessing the opportunities for collaboration and resource sharing, “so that different organisations aren’t doing the same thing”, she says.
It’s a broad role that Sophie is enjoying, but it’d be even better if she could get a beagle into the vines, she says of her former canine workmates. “I miss them a lot.”
Cellarhand
MARLBOROUGH LAB technician and cellarhand Rylee Funk is the first person to graduate with a new national qualification designed to upskill workers in the Kiwi wine industry. Rylee, 24, works at Lawson’s Dry Hills in Blenheim, and has recently completed the New Zealand Certificate in Cellar Operations Level 3, one of three qualifications designed by industry training organisation Competenz to form a career pathway for cellar staff.
Originally from Canada, Rylee was travelling through New Zealand when she landed a temporary job at Lawson’s during the harvest. A few harvests later, with some travel in between, she took up a permanent position in the winery. “At first it was just a chance to do something different, and it turned into a job I really enjoyed. There’s a lot to it and I like that it’s so hands-on.”
As a lab technician and cellarhand, Rylee works across all aspects of the winemaking process – pressing, inoculating, transferring, racking, testing and bottling wine. She also supervises seasonal workers when the winery is operating at full capacity during harvest. “Harvest is such a busy time – we’re working 12-hour days, seven days a week, but I love it.”
The Level 3 qualification provides a basic understanding of the wine industry, knowledge about legislation such as food safety and health and safety, teamwork and regular cellar operations. It takes about 12 months to complete, and learners choose between workbooks or online modules.
For Rylee, it was a chance to formalise her skills and knowledge. “It helped me learn about the reasons why we do what we do. I knew that we needed to add things to the wine, and follow processes for hygiene, but by completing the bookwork I learned a lot more theory about winemaking.”
While she completed the majority of the work in her own time, Rylee also learned more about the technical side of the job with support from Lawson’s senior winemaker Marcus Wright. “We teach our staff how to do things and the qualification teaches them why they do things,” Marcus says. “This gives their learning structure and focus. It’s a great extension of the training that we do at Lawson’s and it provides more background knowledge and fills in any
Rylee Funk gaps. The qualifications can turn a job into a career.”
Competenz also offers New Zealand Certificates in Cellar Operations at Level 4 and Level 5, which cover wine analysis, technical elements, grape processing and vintage operations, through to the potential to lead others and provide technical support in commercial cellar operations. These also take about 12 months to complete.
Rylee’s advice to other cellarhands considering doing the qualifications is to get stuck in. “If you love working in wine and you’re thinking about it, definitely do it. You get to learn off the winemakers and find out so much more about the industry. And you get a qualification at the end of it.”
Marcus Wright
