Farmstrong

The gumboot express

When dairy farmer Harjinder Singh Chander isn’t looking after cows, he’s busy running to raise awareness about rural mental health. Here’s why.

Otago dairy farmer Harjinder Singh Chander recently spent 28 hours running 139 laps of one of Dunedin’s steepest places – Baldwin Street. He ran 104km, achieving a total elevation of 9,665 metres (Mt Everest is 8,848m high).

Cheered on by local residents and supporters, he even completed the last stretch in his trusty gumboots.

Harjinder says this feat of endurance was designed to get more farmers discussing their wellbeing and highlight the benefits of getting off-farm regularly to do other things.

Harjinder is from Northern India and initially came here to work in IT. When that didn’t work out, he turned his hand to dairy farming. His family grew seasonal crops back home, so farming was already in the blood. Harjinder enjoyed dairying and has been in the industry now for eight years. He’s currently managing 400 cows for owner Mark Adam on the Taieri plains.

“I like dairy farming because there are new challenges every year. Winter here can be quite tough with snow. It’s also pretty flat so you might get flooding, so you have to really keep on top of feed for stock. I enjoy working with animals a lot and also being part of a small team. Mark and I work together a lot. It’s just like a family we’ve got here,” Harjinder says.

He says his love of running marathons, half marathons and endurance fundraisers came from his boss.

“When I first started in dairy, I’ll be honest, I felt really lonely. But watching Mark do all his activities off-farm changed my life. I took a leaf out of his book,” he says.

He certainly did. And once Harjinder started running, there was literally no stopping him.

“I started with short distances, running only five or 10km but one day Mark said ‘go as far as you want. If you get stuck, ring me and I’ll pick you up’. So I ran 25km, but he didn’t need to pick me up, I made it home,” he laughs.

“Then Mark entered me in a marathon he was supposed to be running but couldn’t make. He just put my name in and booked me accommodation which was really funny. After I’d finished milking, he’d give me time off to train.”

Harjinder’s running soon reached next level. Then he had another brainwave – using his running as a way to help others.

“I realised how much I really enjoyed living in my community. The people here are so nice. So I thought ‘New Zealand has given me so much, what can I give back?’ I decided to do a fundraiser and I knew to catch people’s attention I needed to do something a bit different, so I started running in gumboots. I did a gumboot marathon, then a few more races. Now I’ve decided to do one big fundraising event a year,” he says.

Which led in next to no time to Dunedin’s notorious Baldwin Street, recently reinstated as the world’s steepest street, with a gradient of 34.8%.

“As I was running up and down it, I just kept thinking of all the farmers who go through so much every year – floods and droughts and the other things that keep them on their toes. I know dairy farmers always look at the end of the season a bit like a finish line. So I thought ‘if they can make it to the end, why can’t I make it?’” he says.

Harjinder says his running isn’t about endurance or setting records. It has a social side and brings plenty of positives into his own life.

“On Wednesdays I catch up with other runners for a jog and a pint at the local

Otago dairy farmer Harjinder Singh Chander is using his passion for running to raise awareness of mental health.

“When I first started in dairy, I’ll be honest, I felt really lonely. But watching Mark do all his activities off-farm changed my life. I took a leaf out of his book.” Harjinder Singh Chander

Harjinder Singh Chander completed the final stages of his laps of Baldwin Street in gumboots.

Local residents and supporters cheered on Harjinder and even walked alongside him. Harjinder Singh Chander recently spent 28 hours running 139 laps of one of Dunedin’s steepest places – Baldwin Street.

Harjinder originally came from Northern India to work in IT but went farming instead, and has now been working in the industry for eight years. Harjinder and the farm team.

and we talk about everything apart from our jobs. Then when summer rolls round, I get into cricket,” he says.

“In 2012, I was new to this region so I joined a social cricket team to meet people. My boss suggested that too and he was right. It made my life more interesting and it was a complete break from life on the farm.

“What I’ve learnt most about farming is that humans are meant to be social. You can’t stay alone or you’ll get depressed.

“My first job was a struggle, because I felt alone and everything was new. It helps to meet others and see that everyone faces the same challenges.

“I’ve found that the best solutions to stress on-farm are often right there in your own community. There are so many people willing to help in the dairy industry if you speak up.

“But a big part of staying well is also doing good things for yourself. If I’m running I never have any trouble with my job. It’s made me better at my job. It helps me to stay focused on what I’m doing and work as efficiently as possible, so I have time to enjoy other things.”

He says he loves doing big runs especially when I’m feeling a bit stressed.

“For example, I’ve been worried about my family back in India since the pandemic because covid is quite bad there. But when I’m running these worries disappear and all I’m thinking about is how lucky I am to be here,” he says.

“We start at 5am on-farm every day, but even when I have a day off, I’m up at five running. Running really helps to keep me going.” n

First-time competitor wins big

By Cheyenne Nicholson

When Jake Jarman stepped off the stage after winning the 2021 FMG Young Farmer of the Year title, he was lost for words.

The 24-year-old ANZ relationship associate has had a whirlwind time since winning the Taranaki/Manawatū regional final. Since then he’s moved to Ashburton, started a new job and had a lot of preparation to do for the grand final held last month in Christchurch.

“I never thought I’d enter for the first time and win the big one,” Jake says.

“Although the competition is very individualistic and you’re pretty much on your own for three days, it’s all about those people around you. The people helping you, supporting you, giving you access to their knowledge and skills and giving that mental and emotional support has been huge.”

His win was a culmination of days of gruelling practical and technical challenges set out to test the seven grand finalists’ skills, knowledge and stamina. He also won the Agribusiness, Agri Sports and Agri Knowledge awards.

“I’d never gas cut metal before, which was part of the Agri Sports challenge. It was daunting not knowing what I was doing and being under that time pressure. Dale was next to me cutting already, so I was trying to catch up with him a bit. My main strategy with Agri Sports was just to be quick across the ground and give everything a go,” he says

There was certainly a lot to have a go at.

The practical day saw contestants tackle seven modules and a number of tasks to complete as part of their farmlet. From constructing gates, railing and mailboxes through to VR, engineering and a combine harvester, contest organisers certainly put the finalists through their paces.

To top off the gruelling day was the famous Agri Sports, which is all about strategy to gain the most points, with a large number of tasks to get through, including putting together a spring gate, hooking up a New Holland tractor to a drill, using a gas saw, chopping down a tree and more – all in 45 minutes.

Any safety infringements were penalised heavily with contestants having to race back to the start, jump rope for 30 seconds before navigating a series of obstacles to get back to where they were.

While he admits public speaking isn’t something that comes naturally to him, he spoke confidently on his speech topic, Something I wish non-farming people knew. The focus of his speech was around celebrating and promoting to young people the many and diverse opportunities on offer in the agricultural sector.

“I’m always nervous speaking, but I practiced a lot and got it refined and tried to go out there with as much confidence as I could, so I’m really pleased with how I did actually,” he says.

Despite this being his first year competing, Jake has been involved in Young Farmers since university and has lapped up every chance to take advantage of what the organisation offers.

“Young Farmers is a lot about networks and a lot about meeting like-minded people. I’ve been a member of four clubs as I’ve moved around the country, so I have friends in all parts of the country now,” he said.

While he would have liked to try his hand at competing earlier, his university schedule never quite lined up with the district competition so entering this year was more about giving it a go, rather than aiming to win. That said, once he obtained a grand finals spot, his competitive nature kicked in and he was “in it to win it”.

“The months preparing for grand finals were hectic. So much goes on from interviews to filming to workshop days, it’s all outside my comfort zone, but that’s where I like to be,” he says.

“If you’re not out of your comfort zone, you’re not really growing.”

Joseph Watts was named runner up FMG Young Farmer of the Year, for the second time.

Jake Jarman won the 2021 FMG Young Farmer of the Year on his first attempt.

“I’m always nervous speaking, but I practiced a lot and got it refined and tried to go out there with as much confidence as I could, so I’m really pleased with how I did actually.”

Jake Jarman

The Tikokino Young Farmer missed out on the title in 2019 by a whisker to James Robertson and qualified for the cancelled 2020 grand final.

“It’s hard to compare the 2019 contest with this one, they were such different competitions,” Joseph says.

“Every year it’s such a different competition which is what makes it so hard; one reason I do feel as content as I do about this is knowing that across two very different competitions I still managed to be consistent in my performance.”

Once a professional squash player, the PGG Wrightson technical field representative and East Coast representative also won the Agri Skills award at the grand final.

Whangarei Young Farmer Calvin Ball, 31, took out third place and also won the Community Footprint award.

“I put my absolute best into this; I made so many sacrifices and I’m so proud of how I competed, but at the end of the day there was seven amazing competitors, so big ups to Joseph and Jake who pipped me, but I’m very grateful and proud of what I’ve achieved during this experience,” Calvin says.

This was the regional sales managers second time competing for the prestigious title, having previously competed in 2016.

Kieran McCahon from Waikato/Bay of Plenty was named FMG People’s Choice winner.

Winner Jake Jarman shows off his fencing skills.

The grand finalists in the Young Farmers of the Year competition gathered in Christchurch recently to compete for the title.

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