2004 Scholar Michael Brady outlines his Nuffield experience:

“I did a Nuffield Scholarship in 2004. I’m a career agricultural consultant having worked as a civil servant, at a private company and finally set up my own company Brady Group in 1995. I suppose it was not a surprise when I decided to go and see how farmers acquire advice in other countries. I saw Nuffield as a perfect opportunity to get away from work for a while. I could see the study trip would broaden my horizons which would ultimately benefit my clients and Nuffield Ireland.

Nuffield Ireland was not as organised in 2004 as it is today. I did an interview on Easter Thursday and was told be at a meeting in London with the UK Nuffield Scholars the following Tuesday! Four days later after a mad dash to London I met the new UK  Scholars. We met various leaders in UK agriculture the highlight was a dinner with Baroness Byford Conservative spokesperson for Agriculture in the House of Lords, how else could I have met such and influential person. Later in the year I met with a group of southern hemisphere scholars for a trip to Paris and Brussels. It was great to go to Brussels and have a non European perspective for discussions with EU bureaucrats. Southern Hemisphere Scholars certainly are not afraid to express their views.  IFA’s Michael Tracy made me proud to be Irish and impressed everybody with his knowledge of world agriculture. I then set off on my study trip to New Zealand and France with my green book of Nuffield contacts. The green book was my passport to people and did I meet some impressive people. I spent a day drawing in maize with Philippe Quignon north of Paris. We had so much in common I stayed another day to discuss our common interests. His son Bertrand has since come to stay in my home on two occasions to learn English, with a Cork accent of course! Two of my children have since stayed in France with Michel Pivard another French Nuffield. In New Zealand I spend a few days at work with Andrew Watters a NZ Nuffield and agricultural consultant who runs a similar business to Brady Group.  Andrew a former share milker of the year had moved beyond making money and stated he now wanted to make his mark on New Zealand Argiculture, what a lofty ideal. I have since found that most Nuffileld’s have lofty ideals and contribute significantly to the development of agriculture in their respective countries. Nuffield is all about the people and has significantly changed my outlook on agriculture and on life in general. I would recommend anybody who loves agriculture with a passion to consider applying for a scholarship you may even end up with ‘lofty ideals’.”