By LIAM DANN, Primary Industries Editor
As workers across the country battle the back-to-work blues most farmers are still enjoying summer life on the farm. They don't have to worry about going back to work ... they never left.
The demands of the job mean most farmers work through the Christmas-New Year period, says Federated Farmers vice-president Charlie Pedersen.
Although summer might not be a time to take holidays, he says, there is plenty of opportunity to slow down the pace of work and enjoy some extra time with family and friends.
For Pedersen, working through the festive season means he can take the opportunity to give his other staff a break.
Farming provides a unique family-focused job anyway, Pedersen says.
"So you can have time with your family and still be on the farm. You only do the essentials at this time of year anyway."
Apart from arable farms, many of which have already begun harvesting, it is not a terribly busy time of year, he says.
Dairy farms are still milking, but calving and breeding are finished for the year.
On sheep farms, the docking of lambs is completed and the harvesting of silage and haymaking also is also finished by this time of year.
"It's really, really busy right up to the New Year period and then boom, it just goes quiet," Pedersen says. "It's autumn when things get busy again."
So late summer is a time to really enjoy the country life.
"There tend to be fairly long breakfasts on farms at the moment," Pedersen says.
"You do a few jobs around the farm in the morning, have a long lunch, then it's just milking in the afternoon.
"We try and have as many family barbecues as possible at this time of year. That way you definitely get that summer-holiday feel."
Summer, too, is a time when farmers are likely to get plenty of company, Pedersen says.
For many New Zealanders, it is part of the traditional kiwi holiday to stay on a friend or a relative's farm.
The Federated Farmers vice-president recognises that farms are great places to spend the school holidays, but warns that visitors need to remember they are, first and foremost, places of work.
"Those visitors like to enjoy the farms and we like to see them do so, but there are lots of potential dangers," Pedersen says.
For instance, visitors love to have a go at driving or riding farm transport.
"Kids love riding on tractors, farm bikes and horses, but often do not have the skills or the strength to control them," he says.
Federated Farmers backs the Agricultural Health and Safety Council recommendation that children under 15 should not operate a farm-sized all-terrain vehicle (ATV), and carrying passengers should be avoided.
If it is necessary to carry a passenger, the person in control of the ATV should be an experienced adult and extra care should be taken to counter the extra risks involved.
Livestock and electric fences can be dangerous. It's rare, but children have been killed by contact with electric fences, Pedersen says. And it is crucial to keep track of who is around waterways, dams and water troughs. They are all magnets for children.
He says people die every year on mountains and in the bush, and farms are really an extension of those environments.
"People can just wander off and get lost, especially the little ones."
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