Pāmu apprentice Archie Davidson and Te Wharua farm manager Alan "Micky" MacDonald. Photo / RNZ, Sally Round
By Sally Round of RNZ
Apprentice farmer Archie Davidson is learning a thing or two from his dogs.
“That heading dog, he knows everything,” Davidson says.
“You send him one way; he goes the other way.
“He’s like, uh-uh, and I’m like, ‘Oh, should have sent you that way’.”
Seventeen-year-old Archie is in his second year on the three-year Pāmu apprenticeship scheme, finding his feet at Te Wharua Station, a 1900ha sheep and beef farm in central King Country.
Sky, his heading dog, and Grace, his huntaway, are invaluable tools for mustering sheep on the steep hill country.
“[They] teach me patience, teach me how sheep move, sheep flow.”
He jumps in the side-by-side and heads off up a steep track with me alongside.
The sheep are due for dagging the next day and Archie needs to bring them down from the tops to a paddock closer to the yards.
He’s on a shepherd’s wage now after learning the basics – on training pay – with the other apprentices at the scheme’s headquarters in Taupō.
Archie got a place on the first intake of the scheme, which started in January 2025.
Up to nine school leavers earn while they learn and don’t need any prior experience farming.
In their first year, as well as learning the basics of dairying and livestock farming, they do some academic study with the aim of gaining Level 3 and 4 agricultural papers.
In the second year, they move into an apprentice’s job at one of Pāmu’s farms around the country while they continue their studies.
The son of dairy farmers, Archie decided to move on to Te Wharua, under the wing of farm manager Alan “Micky” MacDonald.
The teen did okay at school but loves the “hands-on” nature of on-farm learning.
“I like being out in the hills, and there’s hunting on your doorstep.”
He’s in and out of the side-by-side, his whistle clenched between his lips, practising the signals that direct the dogs to bring the sheep out of some tricky gullies.
Micky, waiting down below, says it’s important to have the apprentices do valuable jobs on the farm.
“It’s trying to keep it interesting, but it does take time, and sometimes you could do it faster, but then you think, well, these are the future, so give them the space and the time.”
Te Wharua, with its hilly back country and more forgiving finishing paddocks, covers a fair bit for an apprentice, Micky told RNZ’s Country Life.
“If someone does a good stint here and picks up a school level and all those aspects of it, they’re ready to go farming anywhere, really.”
His biggest concern with the cadets is on-farm safety, particularly with Te Wharua’s terrain.
“I try and work them into it, you know, without putting them in a situation where they’re scared or out of their depth.
“We keep them pretty close to one of the team for a bit to see where their skill level’s at, and then we try and build on that while they’re here.”
Pastoral care is part of his job too, encouraging the apprentices to get off-farm during their time off and keeping them focused.
“I just straighten them up if they need it, or just talk to them, as I would expect from anyone else.
“They accept it and learn from it and go forward.”
The sheep are safely mustered and in the paddock, ready for dagging tomorrow.
Archie’s looking forward to shearing time and learning more from Micky, a champion in his day.
While the dogs take a break, Micky gives Archie some final instructions, with a bit of banter thrown in.
The partnership is one of the reasons Archie chose this farm for his placement.
“Me and Micky got along well.”
“I liked him from the word go,” Micky says about Archie.
“He came here with a good attitude, and he had all the things I like in a young person, cheeky smile, and very good work ethic and respectful.
“And there’s some poor old bugger that did that for me once, so it’s my turn now to give it back.”
– RNZ