Summer job leads to a life on the land for Rangitaiki Station farm manager

Rangatiki Station in 2012. Photo / Supplied

A summer job on a farm was all it took for James van Bohemen to know he wanted a life on the land. He tells Cathie Bell how that summer job led to him taking over as farm manager of Pāmu's Rangitaiki Station.

It was supposed to be a holiday job – working on a farm during the study break from university. But James van Bohemen enjoyed it so much, he knew his future was on the land.

When the job offer came, he jumped at it, leaving his studies behind.

"I was on a farm as a uni placement. I loved it. There was a great team, a great culture. I found my work niche.

"I'd come from town, I wasn't from a farm. I was presented with an opportunity to farm. I was going to continue my studies, but that didn't happen."

The leap of faith paid off, Van Bohemen said.

"There was a fair bit of luck involved, and a fair bit of luck created."

Van Bohemen moved to a Pāmu farm in his next job, and stayed with the company ever since.

Pāmu is the trading name of Landcorp, New Zealand's largest farmer and a State-Owned Enterprise.

It owns 59 mixed enterprise farming operations running sheep, beef cattle, dairy beef and deer, from the boundary of the Fiordland national park to the far North of Kerikeri.

Pāmu has 37 farms in the North Island and 22 in the South Island.

"Landcorp always appealed to me ... I had colleagues who recommended it and they proved right."

One of the good things about working for Pāmu was they "keep pushing you", both on farming results and on taking further education and training, Van Bohemen said.

"It's a challenge."

He came to Rangitaiki Station, a 8300 hectare sheep and dairy beef farm near Taupō, as a shepherd, and progressed from there, through the ranks to head shepherd (sheep and beef) and then farm operations manager, before being appointed as farm business manager.

Two years ago, Van Bohemen was given the opportunity to apply for the Rabobank Farm Management Programme.

"The opportunity to participate in a programme with high-performing young farmers from across Australia and New Zealand was significant, exposing me to a wide range of development modules within agribusiness," he said.

After coming back from that, Van Bohemen was able to lead a policy review on Rangitaiki Station, looking at different options for the sheep, beef and deer systems on the farm.

Van Bohemen said this involved working closely with agricultural consultant Bob Thomson of AgFirst.

Together they explored a variety of potential farming policies, focusing on simplifying a large scale complex farming system, whilst being transformative and forward thinking for the future.

This saw Rangitaiki introduce dairy beef genetics within the cattle herd, and a large-scale "once bred heifer" policy.

The farm is moving to a dairy origin cow herd from a self-replacing Angus cow herd, with a reduction in cow numbers with the introduction of a Once Bred Heifer system.

It's a system that required management, attention to detail, and good systems, according to Thomson.

"We have moved our farm policy to one that is more predictable, less risky and stayed profitable."

Van Bohemen was "hugely grateful" for the development opportunities provided by previous manager Sam Bunny, and wider support from Ross Shepherd whilst working on Rangitaiki Station.

He looked forward to leading the Rangitaiki farm system and people forward in future years.

"It's been pretty cool. Working for the right people certainly helped that. I've worked for a manager and business manager, both prepared to challenge the manner and the farming system.

"I've been exposed to some pretty critical training, and encouraged to be innovative and challenged."

Best of all, he says, is the approach to "have a crack".

"I just love the idea of having a crack. I want us to have a crack at 10 things and fail at seven, rather than say we wish we'd done that."

Pāmu, Landcorp's farming arm, was "brilliant" at doing things, Van Bohemen said.

"We back it up with facts and figures on why we're having a go, but in general, I don't feel that I can't have a go."

Van Bohemen said Pāmu had a culture of connecting its staff, and managers had regular Zoom calls.

"It's an awesome company and culture. We all have different farm systems but we're seeing the same banter.

"They encourage people to break out and reach out for help."

Now responsible for the 8300 ha farm, with 93,000 su wintered on Rangitaiki Station, Van Bohemen leads a team of 24.

Rangitaiki can be "brutal" at times, with winter as harsh as parts of the South Island.

It has a larger team, and Van Bohemen had learnt a lot about staff management, moving up the ranks there.

Encouraging staff had been a learning experience, to find out what ticks people's boxes.

"I focus on the positives. It's about understanding that not everybody has to be the next manager, it's understanding what makes individuals tick....

"Growing individuals through their rows, not one size fits all."

Van Bohemen said he loved many aspects of farming.

"I love working on a farm. I love working on large scale. I love working with people. I really enjoy the business side as well. The great thing about agriculture is there are so many things you can do.

"I'm curiosity-oriented, that's what drives me."

And at Rangitaiki Station, Van Bohemen has found the things he finds fulfilling.

"It's scale, prepared to challenge, and be innovative, and people."