The Ngati Kahu dairy manager at the Landcorp-owned 450ha Bassets Dairy Unit turns out highly skilled, well-educated 2ICs year after year from the operation that locals call “the training camp”.
“I just love it. Seeing my peers progress through to good results and be appointed to higher positions elsewhere is pretty satisfying.”
The 24-year-old employs five full-time staff to help him look after 1100 cows, milked twice daily through most of the season. Jack left Buller High School at 15 to work on the same dairy farm in a job his dad organised for him to get him out of trouble and involved in a practical and worthwhile career. He has since developed a passion for training other young workers, helping them carve out viable career paths.
Instrumental in helping to establish a Landcorp scholarship programme for Buller High students, he believes the industry needs to reach further into the community and get inspirational stories out to students who could otherwise be dragged into hanging out on the streets and miss out on getting engaged in a career.
“I got into the wrong crowd as a teenager and I chose the wrong path. I left school and came to work here on the farm which I now manage. Dairy farming got me in line. I had no time to go out and get into trouble. Now I have a fiancée and two children and I am committed to progressing through the industry and making a great life for my whānau.
“Farming is a great lifestyle, especially for those who are struggling in town – you are paid good money and are too busy working to spend it or to get into trouble.”
A few years into the job Jack started training with Primary ITO and has now completed Level 3, 4 and 5 qualifications in Dairy Farming and Production Management, along with short courses in milk quality and leadership skills.
“Education is a big thing these days. To get a manager’s role now, qualifications are a necessity. If I can train my guys up to get to that level and know they have the certificates to back themselves up, I feel really positive that I’ve helped them get there.”
Training could also help solve retention problems in the Māori dairy farming population, Jack believes.
“Getting young Māori here (on to farms) is the easy part, the harder part is keeping them here, but if you get them into study then they can see a pathway and progression through the industry and stay engaged in the work.”
Jack is a big believer in second chances and says the industry and employers could do a lot more with the Corrections Department, giving a second chance to young Māori and others who have made bad choices.
Jack’s leadership, commitment and success resulted in him being named the winner over the other finalists – Lincoln University agriculture student Ash-Leigh Campbell and Harepaora Ngaheu from Te Teko, Bay of Plenty.
