licensee for Get Milking.

There are four in the team and the plan is he and Dayna will start contract milking next season.

They make an effort to maintain a work-life balance and he has been impressed by the support system and knowledge surrounding mental health for farmers.

“Dayna is big on getting off the farm and having other interests, and I can see how it can make a huge difference.

“You can tell when someone hasn’t got that balance, they just lose their enthusiasm and struggle with motivation, but we work hard to keep that off-farm life.”

They are both into surfing and think the Surfing for Farmers initiative is amazing. They keep a range of outdoor hobbies and love random trips away. Taylor-Hill is also a marriage celebrant, having become one after a drunken dare from some friends who decided they would like him to marry them.

“I woke up with the paperwork half filled in so I decided to finish it for a laugh.

“I got the licence just in time to marry them and have been involved in a range of weddings since then.

“There’s heaps of demand for someone less traditional I guess, but I like to stick with people I already know.”

Before he came onto the farm full time they had planned he would be involved in the administration and business side when they start contract milking. They could utilise the skills he has from managing bars and he would also help on the weekends when staff have time off. It could still be on the cards one day but for now he is glad to have found a hands-on skilled role that keeps him outside.

“I still live by the philosophy that if you enjoy what you’re doing it isn’t work and to me, farming is exactly that.

“I think if more people were exposed to it younger we’d all be a lot more grounded.”

Challenges on farm occur every day but learning new ways of thinking to deal with them helps Taranaki farmer Kane Brisco meet them head-on.