Marvin Farms, New Zealand

kkdela6

Well lads, been looking into Marvin Farms for the last while, thinking about applying to them to work in NZ for a year after i get my ag degree, as it looks like they provide an excellant service, almost too good to be true you could say.
Just wondering if anyone here has ever worked with them and if so what they thought of it? Would it be advised to spend more time working on bigger farms in ireland and the uk before throwing myself in the deep end over there? im hoping to spend 3 or 4 months on large dairy farms in england next spring in order to better prepare myself but would like to hear if anyone on this forum has spent time with them and any recommendations they would have before applying. Cheers in advance!

Dazzler88

Probably best to post this in Region-Abroad-Australia and New Zealand.There is probably guys on there that are working on farms in NZ at the moment.There should be a mod along any second now:p

dar31

done a stint with them over 10 years ago now.
found them very good and helpful, they done the best they could to place you in what ever area you wanted, and in a job that suited your experience. farmers would fill out a report on your time on farm, and marvin farms would asses your capabilities as you moved from job to job.

i had asked to end up when i finished down the bottom of the south island, started in the waicato and finished in invercargile 9 mts later, with a few days off between jobs to see things on the way down.

irishh_bob

kkdela6 wrote: »

Well lads, been looking into Marvin Farms for the last while, thinking about applying to them to work in NZ for a year after i get my ag degree, as it looks like they provide an excellant service, almost too good to be true you could say.
Just wondering if anyone here has ever worked with them and if so what they thought of it? Would it be advised to spend more time working on bigger farms in ireland and the uk before throwing myself in the deep end over there? im hoping to spend 3 or 4 months on large dairy farms in england next spring in order to better prepare myself but would like to hear if anyone on this forum has spent time with them and any recommendations they would have before applying. Cheers in advance!

marvin seem to be the most experienced at this alright , the north island is better if you like living close to towns or something resembling civilisation , the south island is very remote and none of the citys are what you would call fun , christchurch is being rebuilt after the earthquake but was dull as dishwater beforehand anyhow

oooge1

i had no complaints with them.i went there 8 years ago with a lad from collage. we were picked up at the airport and on way to the farm were told we were'nt going to be working together..we had to decide which farm we wanted to go to..the choice was a 600 cow farm or a 3000 cow farm! quite a difference...i got the 600 cow farm and i wouldnt change it for a second.. i got to see more, do more, learn more ..got more responsibility..and i loved every bit of it..was meant to only stay 6 weeks ..but the farm manager sorted out my visa ,paid for rearranging my flights home and i ended up staying a year..tbh i cant remember much contact with marvin once i started working..so yeah no complaints..

kkdela6

cheers lads, appreciate it. sounds very promising.
my only worry is that it might be a huge step up and that i would be better off working on bigger dairy farms locally until i have built up enough experience. Aside from a couple of months part time on a 250 cow farm, ive always worked on farms with less than 100 cows including my home farm which brushes between 65-75. Having said that, a lot of my friends are over in NZ now on placement, some of which have little dairy experience and they all seem to love it over there, although i realise that because they are on college placement their workplaces may be suited to just that.
I'm also aware of the advantage if not necessity of having a class C driving license, will have to look into acquiring that too when i get the time.
It sounds like its definitely worth a shot anyway, i'll start putting away a few bob

oooge1

i wouldnt be to worried about how much experience you have..they will know that coming from ireland that you will have worked on smaller farms.its a bonas that you already have some dairy experience..biggest challenge i found was learning to ride a mud bug.. (farm motor bike) and improving my milking technic..(ie get faster at it)..but that didnt take long..aim to be there for their spring..thats an exciting challenge..good decent hard work....enjoy.

C0N0R

As previous poster said i wouldn't worry about how much experience you have, I came out here just over a year ago, ok I was from a 60 cow farm but truth be told I spent very little time on it, I worked away from home for the previous few years. Within a few months on a 1200 cow farm I was second in command. You don't need big cow farm experience, just a bit of cop on and being from a small farm is probably an advantage as your husbandry skills are probably better. The only thing you will have to adjust to is milking speed! As for marvin farms I can't comment from personal experience but from what I've heard there decent. Any questions you may have about Nz/Nz dairy farming ask away.

Tipp Man

C0N0R wrote: »

As previous poster said i wouldn't worry about how much experience you have, I came out here just over a year ago, ok I was from a 60 cow farm but truth be told I spent very little time on it, I worked away from home for the previous few years. Within a few months on a 1200 cow farm I was second in command. You don't need big cow farm experience, just a bit of cop on and being from a small farm is probably an advantage as your husbandry skills are probably better. The only thing you will have to adjust to is milking speed! As for marvin farms I can't comment from personal experience but from what I've heard there decent. Any questions you may have about Nz/Nz dairy farming ask away.

Hi conor - how is NZ treating you? What's happening on NZ farms this time of year? Middle of summer, silage etc?

C0N0R

Tipp Man wrote: »

Hi conor - how is NZ treating you? What's happening on NZ farms this time of year? Middle of summer, silage etc?

Tipp man how are ya, Nz is treating me very well, I've been meaning to stick an auld update in farming chit chat for a while now! Aye silage is in full swing, we have got about 800 bales so far ourselves. Large square bales with about 300kg/DM. Standing grass is costing about 18 cents a kg with mowing baling etc another 10 roughly.

We have just started irrigating so that's taking a couple of hours a day and were just finishing out six weeks of ai. I'll stick a full update soon.

martin.irish

hello im martin just joined boards,ie anyway was talking to frenz international recruitment a new zealand farm recruiter.they want to skype me for a talk. does anyone know if there decent and also will they get me work immediately or does it take a few months. iv done a ag cours and the follow on is 3 month farm experienc id like to go abroad and maybe do 6 monthss what do ye thhink. i come from farm and also worked on dairy farm in ireland for 12 weeks so have an idea

also will they pay for flights out
thanks