From firewood to pest control, raising lambs and calves, and working with stock, 14-year-old Lewis Stoddart and his 12-year-old sister, Esther, have been learning it all on their Central Hawke’s Bay family farm since they could walk and talk.
Mum Fenella Stoddart said it was instilling life skills and creating confident and responsible kids.
“It empowers them to be independent and confident, which is what you are trying to do for your children.”
She said she welcomes the Government’s consultation on practical safety changes for family farms, announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden at the end of July.
The Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016 currently state that no workers under that age can be involved in the “manufacture or preparation of goods for trade or sale” or any other work likely to compromise health and safety.
The maximum punishment for breaching the regulation was a $50,000 fine.
In the announcement, van Velden said one proposed change was to amend the General Risk Regulations to make it clear that young people could safely take part in light chores on family farms, such as feeding chickens.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has criticised the move as something that isn’t really needed.
“I think this is a policy in search of a problem. Farmers are more than capable of telling their kids which chores they can and can’t do. I think we should just leave that to parents.”
Van Velden said they were clearing up the vague regulations to provide certainty for farmers.
“We are fixing it now with the sector so that generations coming through won’t have to.
“These changes will provide farmers with more certainty and take away any fear of being prosecuted that can be caused with an unclear law.”
Stoddart said she hoped to see common sense prevail through the consultation and with any possible changes.
“As long as it’s common sense and done the right way and there is a benefit to caring for our kids and protecting them, then yes.
“It is setting some guidelines to protect children, protect families, protect farmers, basically what we are doing already, but having it so it is a guideline you can see and follow.”
Consultation will take place with farmers and the wider agriculture sector until September, on a possible change to regulations that govern health and safety requirements for workers under 15 years of age.
Van Velden said this included “making space for children to safely learn and contribute to farm life in ways that are safe and age-appropriate”.
Stoddart said she had always made a concerted effort to take the time to teach about the light chores and everyday tasks and the dangers that came with it.
“We are always working with our children on the farm and setting up boundaries and rules to protect them.
“Kids are still learning - they don’t know the boundaries that you have learnt along the way.”
She said as a parent, part of her job as a farm worker and mum was to assess the risk, and ensure what they were doing was age-appropriate and safe.
“If we are working in the yards with cattle, you have them in an area where they are safe, and you do pull them back if they are trying to do more than what they should.”
Stoddart said she hoped never to see a time when kids couldn’t experience life on the farm and were confined to their homes.
“It would change why you would do this as a lifestyle, that is your farming culture, so it would be very limiting.”
Federated Farmers New Zealand president Wayne Langford said farmers had been calling for clarity on the rules.
“Taking a closer look at these rules is really important, so it’s disappointing a lot of people have gotten the wrong end of the stick.
“The Government aren’t trying to add layers of bureaucracy or wrap farm kids up in cotton wool.”
Van Velden expected that Cabinet would make a decision in November, with any changes implemented by mid-2026.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.