The reluctant decision to leave the 10-hectare farm at Lincoln University early next year marks the end of an era dating from 1976 when organics visionary, Bob Crowder, set up the farm. The Lincoln academic imported the ‘biological husbandry’ term from his native England and began applying it with unrivalled knowledge and passion to land in the university’s horticultural research area.
For decades since, the BHU – with its farm, classrooms, and packing and storage facilities – has been New Zealand’s institutional beacon for hands-on learning, research and extension in organic production.
However, economics are tough in New Zealand’s organics training and research sector. Funding constraints and a decline in trainee numbers are driving the BHU to quit its Lincoln farm and move into town. It will transplant itself onto Climate Action Campus Ōtautahi, Christchurch’s new sustainable education and innovation hub beside the post-earthquake’s red zone.
Sad to leave
