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Proud to be Me is a series of articles about ordinary and extraordinary people in the Selwyn District. This week, Coen Lammers speaks to Kate McCormick, the youngest committee member of Ellesmere Sustainable Agriculture about farming and family.

For Kate McCormick joining the committee of Ellesmere Sustainable Agriculture Inc (ESAI) two years ago was about community, learning, and giving something back to the district her family has long been part of.

McCormick grew up in Templeton and now lives in Leeston, but says her connection to Ellesmere runs through family and place.

“My grandparents were from the Southbridge area and had a wee block of land at Lakeside, and I always enjoyed going out there to see them.”

That family tie, along with a desire to be part of a smaller rural community, eventually drew her to Leeston.

“It was wanting to be part of a smaller community compared with living in town, and just a bit of a family connection,” she says.

Her path into agriculture was not a straight one. McCormick began her career as a primary school teacher before shifting direction at the end of 2020 and retraining for agronomy.

“Covid sort of kicked me to do that,” she explains. “I could do a paper online while I was still teaching and eventually completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Agricultural Science through Lincoln University.”

But agriculture had been in her background for years, with McCormick working nine summers as a pea sampler for Watties, walking crops and collecting plant samples that helped to determine harvest timing.

“The more I did that, the more I wanted to make the move into the agriculture industry,” says McCormick who ended up working for Watties full-time, following the footsteps of her father, uncle and grandfather.

The announcement by Watties Foods to close their Christchurch plant was a shock to over 200 growers in the Canterbury area, as well as the McCormick family, who were also forced to navigate sudden change.

Kate recently started a new position as an arable representative with PGG Wrightson Seeds and describes the move as a “really good opportunity to learn about a wider range of crops”.

That same practical, forward-looking attitude is part of what she now brings to ESAI, the farmer-led catchment group that has spent two decades advocating for productive and environmentally responsible farming in the Ellesmere district.

McCormick joined the committee in August 2024 after becoming involved through her family’s small Lakeside block.

“I was interested in farming, and it was a bit of a way to give back. I knew they were a really knowledgeable group of people who had obviously been doing a lot of work over the last 20 years, so I knew I was going to learn a lot from them.”

ESAI’s achievements in recent years have been substantial.

Through its Project Tinaku, launched in 2020 and supported by the Ministry of Primary Industries, the group completed 60 restoration projects across Ellesmere, planted nearly 50,000 native plants along 14 kilometres of waterways, restored 11 hectares of sites plus a further 2 hectares of wetland planting, and supported extensive water monitoring across lowland streams and groundwater sites.

“That monitoring is vital to see the impact our work is having on the water quality,” says McCormick.

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In recent years, ESAI has run 22 workshops and events attended by nearly 600 people, and its current focus is on supporting farmers with their Integrated Farm Planning.

What has struck McCormick the most is the dedication of the committee and staff, and their willingness to support members through a time of rapid change in farming. “There’s a real focus on the future. It’s about ensuring farming in the area remains viable for future generations, and looking after the land and water in the area.”

That dual focus — economic and environmental — is central to ESAI’s work.

McCormick says the group gives farmers a united voice on issues ranging from consents to major policy reform.

“It’s about having a strong united front and a voice working together to tackle any issues that are coming, “and to support each other in their day-to-day farming operations”.

Last modified: 22 Jun 2026 2:51pm