AGC Training gets dairy jobs for Whanganui students

The morning milking is over for AGC tutor Rob Baldwin and his former student, Luki Ahhoi. Photo / Laurel Stowell

There are more than 500 entry-level dairy farm jobs going in New Zealand, and Whanganui's AGC Training is doing its best to fill those gaps.

"The dairy industry is crying out for workers," tutor Rob Baldwin said.

When its last Whanganui intake of NZ Certificate in Agriculture (Milk Harvesting) (Level 3) students finished in December, nine out of the 10 had jobs, Baldwin said.

"That's the whole point of the course."

He found jobs for many, and helped students prepare with role-playing job interviews. He even went to some of the actual interviews as a support person.

The students went to jobs in places like Waverley, Foxton, Bulls and the Turakina and Whangaehu valleys as well as Whanganui.

Luki Ahhoi is one who walked straight into a job when the 22-week fulltime course finished. He was 18 and had no dairy experience when he started.

A dairy job appealed to him, and he'd like to own a farm one day. Having a job was awesome, he said.

"I love being outdoors and I love working with animals. It's good natured, nice and quiet and peaceful."

Ahhoi now works on one of the two Okoia dairy farms where AGC students are trained.

"We were short-staffed here and he slotted straight in because he knew the fundamentals," Baldwin said.

Both farms are owned by Stephen Gudsell and overseen by Baldwin. They have herds of 400 and 550 cows.

Baldwin checks how things are going in the mornings and makes grazing decisions. He's been a tutor for two years and a fulltime dairy farmer for 20 years.

He has another intake of students starting next week. There are eight who will be based "on campus" (at the farms) and others who have jobs on farms but want the milk harvesting qualification.

Most of the course is practical work. The on-farm students have that assessed by their employers as well as Baldwin.

AGC has just employed a part-time field worker, Hamish Cameron, to look for more students, especially on-farm ones.

They can be aged from 16 to 50. Experience doesn't matter, but they have to have a reasonable level of fitness.

Each new intake learns about health and safety practice and stock drafting first.

"I make sure they are safe around stock. Once they have got that sorted, I will be getting them into the milking shed," Baldwin said.

The course aims to teach the fundamentals of milk quality and shed maintenance.

After that students can progress to the NZ Certificate in Animal Technology (Level 5) to qualify them for dairy jobs as two I/C or herd managers. The current course has 15 students, and much of the work is done online.

AGC runs other courses in carpentry, agriculture and animal care. There are no fees, and students can get their living costs met through Ministry of Social Development benefits and youth allowances.