What a year it has been.
16 weeks of travel to 12 countries – and more still to come.
I want to say a huge thank you to all the people who have helped me on my Nuffield journey so far. To the new friends I’ve made all over the world – thank you for having an open mind, answering my calls and emails and agreeing to meet with me. I ask some pretty tricky questions but without you, my Nuffield is nuffing! (sorry that was awful)
To the dedicated team at the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust in the UK, Nuffield International and my sponsors The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society and The Trehane Trust – thank you for making this year possible and for the continued support along the way.
To my family and my amazing boyfriend Alex – thank you for keeping me calm when things get a little overwhelming.
To the other 2016 Nuffield Scholars at home and around the world – hope you’re all doing great since we were last together at our conference in March. #Nuffield16 THIS IS CAVAN!
To anyone that reads this blog – thank you so much and please keep reading!
Here are some of the faces that have made this year of adventure so unforgettable.
MERRY CHRISTMAS and a heartfelt HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!
Jeff Kirwan, Board of Directors and David Erickson, Vice President of Illinois Farm Bureau
Julius Sigei and Michael Oriedo, Seeds of Gold, Daily Nation, Nairobi
Wayne Dredge downs the Joburg Beer in The Shack, Johannesburg, South Africa
Nuffield Scholars on a rock in Laikipia, Kenya
Eric & Carrie Johnson, Jordanal Farms selling their pasture raised meat at Madison Farmers’ Market, Wisconsin
Hotdog dudes in Chicago
Danish journalist Jan who I met randomly in a backpackers’ hostel in Chicago
Ulrik Haagerup, Executive Director of News, DR Beyn, Denmark
My Dad who travelled with me through South Dakota. One of the highlights of my year.
Nicole Foster, ‘City Mom’, part of the Illinois Farm Families project
Larry Reinhold, cattle rancher, Sturgis, South Dakota
Me and my Alex on Zanzibar, Tanzania
On the beach in County Wexford with my uni friend Jacqueline Walsh, who also works for the Irish Young Farmers organisation Macra
Mike Naig, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Iowa
Karl Plume from Reuters in Chicago
Corn dude! Alsum Sweetcorn at Madison Farmers’ Market, Wisconsin
Kjeld Hansen, investigative journalist and author, Denmark
GFP dinner, South Africa
In the RTÉ Countrywide studio with Damien O’Reilly
Irish journalist and broadcaster Ella McSweeney
South Dakota rancher Larry Stomprud feeding his young bulls
Sunday morning with the Stomprud Family
Terry James, News and Agribusines Director, WJBC, Illinois
John Pieterson, News Director, KOTA TV in Rapid City, South Dakota
Irish legend and Nuffield Scholar Tommy Moyles on his beef farm in Clonakilty
Investigative journalist, broadcaster and foodie podcaster Monica Eng in Chicago
I always take the opportunity to climb a silo!
Nuffield Scholars on the equator
The late Jill Betts and her husband David in Kenya, April 2016
Pat Bane, Illinois hog farmer
Acting Secretary of State for Agriculture Michael T Scuse, in his office in Washington DC
Darragh McCullough, Irish farmer, journalist and presenter of RTÉ’s Ear to the Ground
After branding calves in South Dakota – the Stomprud Family
2016 Nuffield Scholars in Northern France on a tour of WW1 battlefields
Old friends David Betts and David Stanley in a field of wheat, Kenya
Willis Kern, News Director and Charlie Schlenker, Assistant News Director, WGLT, Illinois
My year group – the UK’s crop of 2016 Nuffield Scholars
GFP: Lachie Green, Richard Fowler, Maeve O’Keeffe and Luciano Loman in The Shack, Johannesburg
The wonderful Reinhold family on their ranch near Sturgis, South Dakota
The team at Meredith Publishing in Des Moines, Iowa
Lachie Green in a cheese factory, South Africa
Stanley Gitau, dairy farmer, driver and safari guide, Laikipia, Kenya
Donelle Eller, Reporter, Des Moines Register
Roz O’Shaughnessy and Michael Walsh, Bord Bia, Dublin
Jonathan Hoare and Ultan Waldron, Press Officer, Department of Agriculture, Dublin
The Shamba Shape Up crew, Kenya
Irish Nuffield Scholar Maeve O’Keeffe demonstrates her Inspect 4 turnover crate
Peter Kiær, pig farmer, Denmark
Jim and Rebecca from Northwood Organic Farm in Wisconsin
My Nuffield mentor Nic Small, Certainly Wood, Herefordshire
I wouldn’t be doing a Nuffield without the support of this man – Jeremy Hayes, former BBC Editor of Rural Affairs
John Kamau, investigative reporter, The Daily Nation, Nairobi
The legend that is Phil Tilly in Kenya
Kent Politsch, Public Affairs Chief, USDA, Washington DC
The legend that is Charlotte Smith at work in Broadcasting House, London.
Søren Andersen, Press Officer, Danish Agriculture & Food Council
GFP buddies – getting sloshed my Maeve in Ireland
Mike Brady, agricultural consultant and land agent, County Cork, Ireland
US Department of Agriculture, Washington DC
Me, Tim Smith (Canadian Nuffield Scholar), William Harrington (Aus) and Luciano Loman (Brazil) in Kenya
This is Cavan! My souvenir from the Contemporary Scholars Conference in Ireland in March
Gil and Lisa Gullickson in Iowa. Gil is crop editor at Successful Farming.
Sally Worley, Executive Director, Practical Farmers of Iowa
Brian Mabry, Deputy Director, Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education, USDA in Washington DC
Brad Moline, turkey farmer, Iowa
My GFP group – friends for life

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