Growing up on a farm in Waikato, Ryan Higgs loved farming life and knew he wanted to pursue farming. The unknown was how that would come about.
On leaving school he headed to Massey University, where he achieved honours in ag-business. This led to him being awarded a Fulbright scholarship.
“Farming was my passion and to get this opportunity was very special,” Higgs says.
He headed off to Cornell University in New York and spent eight years studying and working with top global ag-sector academics and professionals.
“It was an amazing and invaluable experience. I was working in animal science and mathematical modelling. It was my first insight into technology,” Higgs says.
“We used it every day to feed millions of cows and it gave me a sense of how technology can have a huge impact in agribusiness.”
On returning to New Zealand Higgs worked for two years with Synlait Farms. During that time the seed was sown for Onside.
READ MORE OF THE ONSIDE JOURNEY AT FARMERS WEEKLY