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