YOUNG FARMER HAS NO REGRETS
writer PETER WHITE // photo ALAN STEVENS
“The possibilities in farming are endless,” says BAILEY LONERGAN. “There are lots of opportunities in dairy to progress with the right attitude and the right employer.” The 24-year-old is a farm manager In his final year, he received a DairyNZ with Clover Sun Ltd in the Horotiu scholarship that helped greatly with area, close to Hamilton. study costs and living costs. “The big thing was the workshops “Every day on the farm is different. that we had, which were really good In the spring, it is busy and I can be for meeting people. They gave us doing anything – from in the office really good advice on how to survive working out intakes, supplementary in the workplace and dealing with the feeding decisions and animal health change from student life to going out records, to setting up fences, feeding into a fulltime role.” calves and tractor work. Bailey has been involved with “Being able to wake up at your New Zealand Young Farmers since place of work is great and getting up he started at Massey. early and milking the cows is really Last year, he took over as chairperson rewarding. You are doing something of North Waikato Young Farmers. that matters and contributes significantly to our economy. “This is a busy but super important role. Being able to plan stuff for other “I really enjoy my role because it members to enjoy is really rewarding involves a lot of thinking and planning. and we have heaps of things planned There is always plenty to do on the for the future.” farm, but being able to pick what I do and make my own schedule is priceless. Bailey’s advice to school leavers – don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Having that flexibility is awesome.” “You need to have a goal that you want Bailey decided farming was for him to achieve in the future and something after spending time on a local farm to work towards. I knew this was the during Year 11 at St John’s College in industry for me and I just got stuck in Hamilton. The Gateway programme and worked hard when I started. was a turning point for him. “There can be competitive salaries “I didn’t know what I wanted to do in farming, especially getting into until I started Gateway, working on management levels. Combined with a farm one-day a week, which is accommodation on the farm, this can where I met my current boss. He has help you grow equity and use it to get been fully supportive of me learning into a higher role like contract milking and growing.” and share milking.” Bailey studied English, Horticulture, Media Studies, Outdoor Education and Science in Year 13 at St John’s. THERE IS ALWAYS PLENTY TO DO ON A FARM, BUT BEING ABLE With the connections made through TO PICK WHAT I DO AND MAKE MY OWN SCHEDULE IS PRICELESS. Gateway, he worked for a year on the farm he did his work experience on, before starting a Bachelor of BAILEY LONERGAN AgriScience at Massey.
FARM MANAGER
FLEXIBILITY AND VARIETY 9
KEY FACTS ■ BAILEY LONERGAN WORKS AS A FARM MANAGER WITH CLOVER SUN LTD. THE GATEWAY PROGRAMME AT HIS HIGH SCHOOL WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN HIS DECISION TO EMBARK ON A CAREER IN FARMING. ■ HE HAS A BACHELOR OF AGRISCIENCE FROM MASSEY UNIVERSITY, AND WAS ASSISTED BY A DAIRYNZ SCHOLARSHIP. ■ BAILEY IS INVOLVED WITH NEW ZEALAND YOUNG FARMERS AND IS THE CHAIRPERSON OF NORTH WAIKATO YOUNG FARMERS.
For more information on career options within the dairy sector, visit www.godairy.co.nz and www.dairynz.co.nz/people/dairy-careers
LEAVING SCHOOL ISSUE #23
| LEAVINGSCHOOL.CO.NZ
