4 minute read
Road to dairying
from Dairy Farmer February 2023
by AgriHQ
Easy switch
By Samantha Tennent
Continuing our Road to Dairying series, we catch up a Waikato farmer who traded in his mechanic job for the farm.
Growing up hooning around farms on dirt bikes, Nik Young didn’t pay much attention to the cows and definitely didn’t expect to end up dairy farming himself. His parents were sharemilkers but, until he started working on a farm himself last season, he had only dabbled in the “fun parts” of farming and had no idea there was so much to it.
This season he has progressed into a 2IC role and even managed to convince a mate to leave a welding job to join the farm team with him in Whakamaru, near Taupō.
“It wasn’t hard to convince Rhys to join us. He could see how much me and my family were loving the lifestyle,” Young says.
“Especially because I’m working less hours each week than I did in my previous job as a motorbike mechanic.”
He had spent 10 years as a mechanic and stumbled into farming after moving to a rental on the farm back in 2020.
“I had gotten to know the farm owner over a few beers here and there and one day he offered me a farm assistant job. I figured why not and fortunately he took me under his wing.”
Although he had grown up around dairy farming he has quickly realised there is a lot more to it than he’d thought.
“In the first month I thought I was getting the hang of it but two weeks later I felt like I’d forgotten everything again. I had a lot to learn.
“I had no idea how much planning goes into where the cows go and grass management. There’s always so much to think about.
“I had relief-milked through my teens and I knew how to drive a tractor but I’d never really been exposed to the other parts.”
He got stuck into studying with Primary ITO pretty quickly. He has completed his Level 3 and is now working on Level 4. He has found the study really valuable to help him
Waikato farmer Nik Young switched from a career as a mechanic to go dairy farming. Nik and son Ollie head out to do some feeding out.
Nik Young
understand how everything works. And he always had friends who were farming, so he appreciates being able to understand what they are talking about now.
His family are loving the lifestyle too. His son Ollie loves spending time on the farm and is mad about tractors.
“Ollie recently turned five and on his first day of school he told me I wasn’t allowed to feed out till he got home,” he laughs.
Being in his second season, Young already recognises things that he wishes he knew from the start – basic things like setting the shed up for the morning, having the backing gate ready and yards set to go.
“There’s so many little things you can do at the start or end of the day, things I do on autopilot now, but I wish it was easier to understand at the start.”
He is glad he kept an open mind, though, and encourages others who may be starting out to get stuck in and try anything they can.
“You’ve got to keep an open mind and just try everything straight away, like giving a B12 injection to the cows or drenching calves. Don’t be scared to fail and you know pretty quickly whether you like it or not.”
The 2IC opportunity came up when the previous one left for a sharemilking opportunity, and although Young knows he is still green, he has got great support from the farm owners Tom and Traze Earls. They have been trying to ease him into things, giving him more responsibilities without putting too much pressure on.
“I’m enjoying getting more involved in the pasture-related side, working out where the cows are going, how the grass is growing and if we’re going to cut silage for example.
“And my boss has talked me into the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards in the Central Plateau region. I have no idea how I’ll go but I figured I may as well give it a go now while I’m fresh enough to enter the trainee category.”
The farm itself is relatively flat and Taupō is just over half an hour drive away. They are milking 500 cows through a 40-a-aside herringbone. The Earls gave him the opportunity to buy 10 heifer calves this season and he is keen to climb the ranks in the industry to eventually have his own herd.
For now though, he is loving the lifestyle.
“Dairy farming is seriously great, and I’m a big believer that if it’s hard you’re doing it wrong.” n Nik Young grew up on a dairy farm but didn’t expect to end up farming himself. He is only in his second season on a 500-cow farm at Whakamaru, near Taupō and has progressed to 2IC.
Nik’s son Ollie loves the lifestyle on the farm and asks his dad not to feed out until he gets home from school.
