Wanganui's Carys Bates has landed her dream summer job thanks to Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre in Wairarapa.
A second year sheep and beef student, she recently took a call from Mount Linton's farm technical manager David Bielski who told her she had just secured a much sought after role on the South Island station over the summer.
Mount Linton is one of New Zealand's iconic privately owned stations. Its 13,365ha size means its biggest asset is people, both current and past.
The farm is determined to be a leader in genetics. Its biggest challenge is the Southland climate and it is focused on producing genetics that survive and thrive in a harsh environment, as well as producing a quality product for the end consumer.
Taratahi involves students in research programmes so that they can gain hands-on experience working in the cutting edge artificial insemination/genetics area of the industry. Ms Bates was one of the students working on a short-term genetics project at Onslow View, a Southland farm that is involved in the same genetics project as Taratahi's Koromiko farm in Wairarapa.