The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Covid 19 coronavirus: Redundancy leads career in dairy

By Mary-Jo Tohill
Otago Daily Times·
15 Sep, 2020 10:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

SIT-Telford GoDairy student Steve Morris. Photo / Mary-Jo Tohill

SIT-Telford GoDairy student Steve Morris. Photo / Mary-Jo Tohill

A job loss has brought Mosgiel man Steve Morris back to his agricultural roots, and the 55-year-old is glad of it.

He grew up on a farm on the Otago Peninsula, near Larnach Castle.

"It was a small farm, and you don't always want to work with your father," Morris said.

He left school and became a glazier, holding down his first job for 16 years and the second for 18, before making a complete change and driving trucks for three years.

Then Covid-19 struck and he was made redundant.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

''It was terrible, but I'm pleased it happened. It's opened up a whole lot of opportunities that I would have never taken."

He heard about the Southern Institute of Technology's short courses, designed to help people go from their pre-pandemic jobs to careers in agriculture, on talkback radio.

He did the agricultural contractor training course at the Telford campus near Balclutha, and then went on to the farm-ready GoDairy course.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The DairyNZ course offers three weeks of free training to learn about life and work on a farm, as well as practical aspects such as animal handling and vehicle safety.

On completion, participants are eligible to receive $900 of PPE gear with proof of employment.

"I lived on campus and I've absolutely loved it. Good food, great atmosphere. It really has been a great experience."

Reasonably proficient around machinery because of his previous experience, Morris had already been offered some driving work after the course finished.

Discover more

Rural retraining course proving popular

17 Aug 03:25 AM

Covid career change: From tour bus to tractor-driving

19 Aug 08:54 PM

Covid career change: From agri-tourism to female-only farm training

20 Aug 12:56 AM

Family's free-range egg venture off to a flying start

14 Sep 10:30 PM

His preference would be work or placement in agriculture somewhere close to home on the Taieri Plain, where he has 4ha at Chain Hills.

"But I would consider dairy, and either avenue. We'll just have to see what turns up."

GoDairy students were not required to be at the 5am and 3pm milking at Telford, but he showed up, determined to learn all he could.

"I'll say it again, if I hadn't been made redundant, I would never have considered retraining for anything at this stage of life.

''I'd have just kept going day in and day out, so it just goes to show you, things can work out for the best."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

Premium
The Country

'They just keep coming': Illegal hunting causes frustration and fear on East Coast

The Country

Watch: CCTV shows moment drug-driver caused tractor to crash into homes

The Country

Te Puke incident: Person airlifted after serious injury


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Premium
Premium
'They just keep coming': Illegal hunting causes frustration and fear on East Coast
The Country

'They just keep coming': Illegal hunting causes frustration and fear on East Coast

East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick highlights rising poaching concerns.

17 Jul 06:00 AM
Watch: CCTV shows moment drug-driver caused tractor to crash into homes
The Country

Watch: CCTV shows moment drug-driver caused tractor to crash into homes

17 Jul 03:49 AM
Te Puke incident: Person airlifted after serious injury
The Country

Te Puke incident: Person airlifted after serious injury

17 Jul 02:26 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP