Englishman Damian Buckley rediscovers his farming roots with Ag Challenge

Tutor Damian Buckley drives the VMI course at Ag Challenge in Whanganui.

Damian Buckley has rediscovered his roots after joining the ranks of Ag Challenge in Whanganui.

The 51-year-old Englishman joined the private training establishment as a tutor in September last year delivering the Level 3 VMI (Vehicles Machinery and Infrastructure) course.

Born and raised in a rural setting in Leicestershire, a landlocked county in the English Midlands, Buckley has a degree in agricultural marketing and one of his first jobs was working for Britain's's largest strawberry grower in the packaging department.

"I grew up in a rural setting and drove my first Landrover at 11 and was turning hay when I was 14," Buckley said.

However, much of his working life has been spend in management roles, many of them off-farm, including a 12-month stint working with coconut growers in Samoa.

"I first came to New Zealand in 1996 and met and married a Kiwi girl. A lot of my working life has been in management, although I have kept up a strong relationship with the primary industry," Buckley said.

"I worked for Farmers Weekly as a sales and business manager and also spent time with a rural-based software company. I have a varied skill set and I think that stands me in good stead for this job at Ag Challenge.

"The VMI course is all about handling the motors. Riding a motorbike, driving a tractor, using a chainsaw and even positioning a fence. The students learn to do it right and to do it safely. My students are a great and varied bunch ranging in age from 16 to 39 and eager to learn."

The 15-week L3 VMI course can lead to jobs as a general hand, junior shepherd, farm assistant, or in other similar roles in rural-based workplaces. Or it can lead to further study, including Next Generation Farming Systems Technology Level 3 and Milk Harvesting Technology Level 3.