Young farmer ahead of game
While other kids in town spent their time at the playground, an 8-year-old Angus Grant had saved up enough pocket money to start a farming career with a few laying hens at his parents’ Papanui home.
Now he’s 21 and grazes livestock on multiple sections across Canterbury while studying for a Bachelor of Commerce in Agriculture with accounting and finance fulltime at Lincoln University.
His first word being cow, Grant was born to farm, soon growing his laying hen operation from a few, to 80.
Meeting Southland farmer Allan Findlay through his father, 9-year-old Grant began gaining experience on Findlay’s farm, helping out in the lambing seasons and during summer. This encouraged him to buy three sheep when he was 11.
Living in town wasn’t the most ideal farming landscape for Grant, until the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes left red-zoned properties in Papanui overgrown with grass and weeds. Then aged 13, Grant saw a silver lining, grazing the overgrown properties with sheep.
As soon as he got his driver’s licence at 16, he began scouting around Lincoln and North Canterbury in his trusty 1999 Toyota Prado for lease blocks to graze more sheep on. “That’s when it really took off, because then I could go looking for grazing all the time and even transport the sheep myself.”
He now grazes sheep on multiple blocks across Lincoln, Prebbleton and North Canterbury.
Studying at Lincoln was a no-brainer, realising that in order to run a business, he needed to learn the fundamentals.
“The whole idea of going to Lincoln was because I wanted to go farming. My parents always said to me, ‘Definitely try, but go and get an understanding of whether it’s actually achievable’, so that’s where the accounting and agri degree came in.”
In support of his business and studies, Grant was awarded a scholarship with the Meat Industry Association (MIA) in 2022 and re-awarded in 2023 and 2024.
He says the funding has allowed him to dedicate time to his studies and business.
“I do work fulltime in the summer breaks but during the year at least, the funding gives me an opportunity to spend more time on my studies and my business.”
Learning about the multiple pathways you can take in the red meat sector has been a highlight for Grant, who has found already that no two days are the same.
Grant has also received mentoring from Canterbury and Southland farmers; their knowledge helping him to navigate the challenges of owning a business at a young age. “There’s always heaps to learn, you get more of a grip on how challenging it is for farming businesses to be profitable. I’ve got no illusions; if you’ve just got a degree, you can be quite optimistic, but with a business, you can get a bit more realistic.”
Looking ahead, Grant has a long-term goal of farm ownership, but first he intends on building upon his experience in the workforce after finishing his fourth and final year at Lincoln University.
As for his livestock business, he has taught his brother the ropes before his hands are full with a job after graduating.