Hillbrook Dairies: North Otago field trip gives pupils a taste of farming life

Attending an agricultural field day for secondary school pupils are, from left: Waitaki Girls’ High pupils Abby Van Kleef, 15, Manon Tartonne, 15, and Ella Waldron, 15, pictured with Winnie the dog. Photo / Sally Rae

When Nick Webster was studying at Lincoln University, he swore he was never going to be a dairy farmer.

But later, after talking to a few people, he worked out that many successful farmers all had a stake in the dairy industry and he and his wife Kate converted an Enfield cropping farm to dairy 10 years ago.

Hillbrook Dairies was one of the properties visited earlier this month by year 11 agriculture and agribusiness pupils from Waitaki Boys’ High School and Waitaki Girls’ High School.

North Otago Sustainable Land Management (NOSLaM), with assistance from the Waitaki District Youth Council, funded the field trip.

NOSLaM engagement officer Nic Neal said there were several objectives, including engaging agriculture pupils in their local agriculture community and encouraging them to stay local in the future, and showcasing outstanding farmers and growers.

The trip also opened pupils’ eyes to the huge range of agricultural careers available, including increasing use of technology and innovation solutions. It fostered cooperation across North Otago secondary schools and explored the economic and environmental impact of large-scale infrastructure, such as irrigation, and what it meant for the community, he said.

Pupils visited cropping, dairy and sheep and beef operations and they were also shown around one of the North Otago Irrigation Company sites.

A worksheet and questions designed to fit within the curriculum needs were formulated, meaning the visit could contribute credits for NCEA.

Feedback from teachers and pupils in previous years was that the experience was invaluable and the day provided a lot of ongoing context throughout the year, she said.

Addressing the group of pupils, Webster said he had been very fortunate to have good long-term staff on board which made things a lot easier.

“As you go through life ... it’s all about surrounding yourself with good people,” he said.

“When I was at school, you always think ‘as soon as I leave school I’ll know it all’.

“The reality is the older you get, the more there is to know which is fascinating.

“It doesn’t matter what you do in life - if you surround yourself with good people ... it makes things a whole lot easier ... and ultimately you’ll go a lot further.”

Hillbrook Dairies is a 200-ha property that milks 670 cows through a 54-bale rotary shed with in-shed feeding.

The technology used on the farm includes Protrack, Allflex collars and soil-moisture probes.

Half the property is irrigated with pivots and the other half with K-line irrigation.

Before the arrival of irrigation in the valley, Webster recalled how there were “a few sheep running around, a few cattle and a heap of nodding thistles”.

Estimating there were about 20 families in the valley then, it was hard in dryland situations for farming families to prosper financially.

His father, Jock Webster, was among a group of farmers who investigated how to bring water to the valley.

Little did they know the massive effect that would have not just on the valley but also Oamaru and the wider region, he said.

Hillbrook Dairies now supported five families and the valley had probably closer to several hundred families living there.

The spin-off from all that, was water gave Webster the opportunity to return to North Otago to go farming.

“From a regional perspective, water has just been pivotal in growing the economy and delivering options”, he said.

But, as he stressed to the pupils, agriculture did not mean just being a farmer.

There were so many other opportunities and “the world is your oyster”, he said.

“Don’t get limited to thinking you need to be a farmer to be involved in agriculture.

“The opportunities out there are endless, I think.”