Dairy Day Out for Hawke’s Bay year 10 students
apprenticeship but moved into sheep and beef farming. He was involved with the Primary Industries Training Organisation(PrimaryITO) when it was AgITO from being a student through to regional chairman running events for trainees.
Moving into dairy in 1999, he went from worker to manager to sharemilker. He started working for BEL Group in 2015.
Vallance had a personal message for students at the start of the day, talking about his dyslexia and how it had no effect on his ability to be a good farmer – he is in charge of a business turning over $1.5 million a year.
BEL Group operations manager Doug Dolan talked about leaving school young but choosing to do extra-mural university study in his 20s.
Barry spoke about her late husband Peter, with whom she started the businesses that make up BEL Group.
‘‘He grew up on a dairy farm in Otorohanga and his parents had sharemilkers on so they owned the land but not the cows. He just dreamed about being out on the farm but wasn’t allowed out there. So he would mow the lawns for his mother but pretend it was rows of silage. He borrowed $20 from his grandmother and bought chickens and then sold the eggs to his mother. He went off with friends onto their farms.’’
After the farm was sold when he was 17, she said he found a good farmer to work for and ‘‘listened and learnt and worked hard’’.
Barry’s main message to the students was to work hard, save hard and watch your reputation.
She said one of Peter’s mottos was ‘‘if it is to be, it is up to me’’.
‘‘He basically meant don’t rely on anyone else,’’ she said. ‘‘Get out there and work hard and do it yourself.’’
The careers day has seven sections using mainly contractors and businesses used by BEL Group with assistance also from Fonterra and Young Farmers members.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council land management advisers Erica Smith and Nicola McHaffie, along with Marie Taylor from Plant Hawke’s Bay, coordinated a session on the environment.
Students were told about how regional councils work with farmers, advising them how they can look after their land and the health of their waterways.
ANZ’s farm management and finance session saw the students trying to get their heads around everything from how much money they needed to get into farm ownership through to dealing with risk and dealing with banks and accountants and other advisers.
Stephenson Transport and Fonterra had a transport, distribution and logistics session where students found out about how both milk and animals were transported and the skills and responsibilities of drivers.
Agricom and Middle Hills Contracting looked at feed and machinery, telling students about crops and how to feed cows properly to ensure healthy milk.
The animal health section showed the extent of the roles involved with looking after animals. Tararua Vets and LIC taught the students about the role of vets and artificial insemination and the overall health of animals.
Young Farmers member Robert Barry, son of Andrea, who is 2IC on another BEL Group property, ran some TeenAg games, similar to the Young Farmer of the Year’s agrisport. Students were mixed into groups of three from different schools and given basic farming tasks to complete as fast as they could.