In NZ, looking for work advice

carrollsno1

Right so folks, im just coming on 6 months to the day i flew out here really enjoying it learning a bit everyday but AI is over now and its getting a bit boring. Ive not been challenged a whole lot here, which i was expecting as it was just me and the farmer on the farm back home whereas here theres 4 fulltime staff plus the two farm owners. While i do measure the grass weekly and do help make the call on residuals etc i still find it boring enough everything is man made here too (irrigation etc).

New Zealand is far from what i was expecting and hoping for i.e minimal concentrates slightly lower stocking rate lower output, focused on profit not production kind of a system.

While it took me a while at the start to get used to regular planned time off i.e. monthly rosters, i would still have my phone to hand waiting for a call to come in somedays. This time off really crowned the farm here as i was not one bit busted during calving ( somedays id meet the farmer in the local gym during lunch break, it was that easy) there were times i was thinking about what hardship my father got and my grandfather gave himself with sucklers ( thankfully the old man is starting to move away from them slowly) and they were only dealing with 40-50 cows split calving at peak numbers whereas we calved down 800 in a month.

Towards the end of calving i got bored, and now AI is over im bored again, and its time to think about where im headed for next season.

I wont remain on this farm as the farmer is taking a step back and a contract milker is coming in and id still be close enough to the bottom. I was strongly considering the city for construction work (no experience in it yet) until last week i met a farmer here who you could listen to all day and would challenge you on things, while educating you at the same time, i know this farmers going on a new venture next season and he asked me twice what i had planned for next season i just said im not sure what way my visa is for the minute. I have to meet this farmer again someday hes taking me on a farm walk, hed be friendly enough with my current boss and might even know previous employers through social media.

Id love to stick at the farming and id love to give working for this farmer a go, but at the same time i have contacts in the city for construction if i go that route either. Also the agency i came out with said theyll find a good farm for me no problem next season too possibly closer to the city too, would like to move a step up thr ladder as moneys not great and im on good money for my first nz season (€21000 take home after tax, rent, power and wifi)

What advice can ye good people of the f+f forum give me in terms of asking the new farmer for work etc or what i should do in general?

And finally yere some bunch of lads and ladies keeping me up to date with whats going on at home, thanks for that and i look forward to reading the replys in the morning i must get some shut eye 3.30am isnt far away

Thanks

blue5000

Thanks longgonesilver, pulled this one out of chit chat.
I've never been to NZ myself but it might be worth a stint on the buildings just for the experience. You never know when it might come in handy in future if you have to do a bit of building yourself. Getting a visa might be easier with the dairy farmer though.

Base price

blue5000 wrote: »

Thanks longgonesilver, pulled this one out of chit chat.
I've never been to NZ myself but it might be worth a stint on the buildings just for the experience. You never know when it might come in handy in future if you have to do a bit of building yourself. Getting a visa might be easier with the dairy farmer though.

My eldest son went to Aus nearly 2 years ago. He is a barman and had a job lined up in a pub/nightclub in Melbourne. After a month he went working on the building and loves it. I was surprised at the move considering he couldn't draw a straight line let alone cut one with a saw.
He is due home in February and has a job lined up here (building) in Dublin.
Edit to say: he has learned skills while working on building sites in Aus that he would not have done if he stayed at home even though he had the opportunity to do so as one of his Uncle's is involved in the building industry.

Waffletraktor

Had a few Kiwi's here from 'Mid Canty' around Ashburton, could get details if you want to work at crops for the rest of year to put in time until ideal dairy job comes along?
I understand a formal work visa is after getting hard to get unless your on a working hoiday which is easy enough to extend for unskilled work like farming unless at a higher pay grade.

Timmaay

Fair play Carrols for such an honest post ha. What's the whole social side of things like with ya there? Do you have any pastimes, sports etc?

Money wise, the 21k after your main expenses/tax covered doesn't sound half bad in my view, however I don't know the cost of living over there ha, how much do you have left over end of every month, are you making a serious effort to save and bring home money, or is the lack of more money just in part down to frustration in your job? (basically what I'm coming to, if someone offered you double the pay, to stick out another year of what you did, would you be any happier at the end of it ha?)

That construction job doesn't sound half bad either if you are looking for a change, what are the contacts you have there like, are they just a few professional people you know, or good friends who would look out for ya and properly help ya hit the ground running? If money is important to you, what's the wages going to be like there, and what other expenses will you have (higher rent in the city, commuting etc).

K.G.

Two things where do you see yourself in 5years.can one of the options be parked for a while and revisit in 12 months

davidk1394

Great to hear your getting on well and great to see your enjoying yourself out there aswell Would you consider heading up to the North Island ? seems to be a lot of work up there. If you consider heading to Australia I could give you a list of numbers as long as your arm. I know a couple of dairy farms just an hour from Sydney. Two of my friends were on an article a few weeks ago in Tuesdays Independent. Their working on a dairy farm owned by Moxys, their always looking for good people and you'd have the opportunity to advance up the ladder. One of them is in milk quality side and the other fella is on the machinery side. I might bump into you out there

mycro2013

davidk1394 wrote: »

Great to hear your getting on well and great to see your enjoying yourself out there aswell Would you consider heading up to the North Island ? seems to be a lot of work up there. If you consider heading to Australia I could give you a list of numbers as long as your arm. I know a couple of dairy farms just an hour from Sydney. Two of my friends were on an article a few weeks ago in Tuesdays Independent. Their working on a dairy farm owned by Moxys, their always looking for good people and you'd have the opportunity to advance up the ladder. One of them is in milk quality side and the other fella is on the machinery side. I might bump into you out there

Head to Australia and try a completely different industry as at times it is well to look at things from a different perspective.

If you want to dairy in australia. Head to echuca Melbourne or Margaret river in Perth.

Timmaay

mycro2013 wrote: »

Head to Australia and try a completely different industry as at times it is well to look at things from a different perspective.

If you want to dairy in australia. Head to echuca Melbourne or Margaret river in Perth.

Yeh Carrol actually what are your future plans, do you have a farm to come home to here in Ireland etc? If so then 100% try out a different sector completely outside of farming if you have not done so before.

Water John

If you have nothing major to learn from where you are, at present, I would suggest moving on. Unless a new farm had something to offer, learning another skill would be your best move.
BTW there other females to meet, other than 800 cows!!

davidk1394

Water John wrote: »

If you have nothing major to learn from where you are, at present, I would suggest moving on. Unless a new farm had something to offer, learning another skill would be your best move.
BTW there other females to meet, other than 800 cows!!

He already met a few 2 legged ladies going by snapchat

davidk1394

mycro2013 wrote: »

Head to Australia and try a completely different industry as at times it is well to look at things from a different perspective.

If you want to dairy in australia. Head to echuca Melbourne or Margaret river in Perth.

I'm heading in January. Going up towards Brisbane. All outdoor operations

carrollsno1

Righy so waiting for cows and washing the tank, ill try answer everyone individually. Should be done by the time yeve wakened

carrollsno1

Base price wrote: »

My eldest son went to Aus nearly 2 years ago. He is a barman and had a job lined up in a pub/nightclub in Melbourne. After a month he went working on the building and loves it. I was surprised at the move considering he couldn't draw a straight line let alone cut one with a saw.
He is due home in February and has a job lined up here (building) in Dublin.
Edit to say: he has learned skills while working on building sites in Aus that he would not have done if he stayed at home even though he had the opportunity to do so as one of his Uncle's is involved in the building industry.

The mothers side of the family would be fairly reputable builders, i just never had an interest it was always cows with me. Draw a straight line, i couldn't lie straight in the bed but id love to give it a go. Ive no fear of a shovel and would like to start on one and work up to a mini digger and so on. Ill end up on my own dairy farm someday with a bit of luck it woukd be handy have construction experience for that alone plus ive come on an awful lot on machinery since i landed here

carrollsno1

Waffletraktor wrote: »

Had a few Kiwi's here from 'Mid Canty' around Ashburton, could get details if you want to work at crops for the rest of year to put in time until ideal dairy job comes along?
I understand a formal work visa is after getting hard to get unless your on a working hoiday which is easy enough to extend for unskilled work like farming unless at a higher pay grade.

Im in that area myself at the moment great bunch of irish lads here too coming and going the whole time. A good mate of my who we nearly always end up within a few miles of each other when travelling told me id get a job at that no problem they have a serious lack of drivers with a bit of cop on. But since then the drought has hit and hit hard lads have been let go around here and there is irish lads wandering the country looking for silage work as we speak. Im finished on this farm at the end of April the plan is head to christchurch for a month or so or else go shearing and hopefully land back in september

Base price

carrollsno1 wrote: »

The mothers side of the family would be fairly reputable builders, i just never had an interest it was always cows with me. Draw a straight line, i couldn't lie straight in the bed but id love to give it a go. Ive no fear of a shovel and would like to start on one and work up to a mini digger and so on. Ill end up on my own dairy farm someday with a bit of luck it woukd be handy have construction experience for that alone plus ive come on an awful lot on machinery since i landed here

Be open to opportunities and don't dismiss them cause they aren't agri related. The means justifies the end

carrollsno1

Timmaay wrote: »

Fair play Carrols for such an honest post ha. What's the whole social side of things like with ya there? Do you have any pastimes, sports etc?

Money wise, the 21k after your main expenses/tax covered doesn't sound half bad in my view, however I don't know the cost of living over there ha, how much do you have left over end of every month, are you making a serious effort to save and bring home money, or is the lack of more money just in part down to frustration in your job? (basically what I'm coming to, if someone offered you double the pay, to stick out another year of what you did, would you be any happier at the end of it ha?)

That construction job doesn't sound half bad either if you are looking for a change, what are the contacts you have there like, are they just a few professional people you know, or good friends who would look out for ya and properly help ya hit the ground running? If money is important to you, what's the wages going to be like there, and what other expenses will you have (higher rent in the city, commuting etc).

Id be a fairly straight talking man to be fair. Social side is good enough can be a big mickey fest majority of the time though. Theres GAA here one night a week rugby will be starting in january too. Went to one YFC meeting but they were an odd bunch enough bit uppity in themselves i thought, but in saying that one of the lads is involved with them and he loves it. Id just rather the football and its all a big bunch of ignorant irish farmers at that too so im well suited to that. Great thing about here is there is always someone off as well as yourself not like home where everybody justworks the whole time.

Money wise ive taken a fair hit in take home pay compared to back home was clearing just under 30k back home with a lot less living expenses but i hadnt near as much time off im on a 9/3 roster at the moment. Time i was in the uk i was on €20,000 on todays rate after rent and power had to pay for heat and Wi-Fi, felt i saved a lot more over there but i wasnt living at all there that was just drudgery and hardship was close to burnout only for i had a small accident before i finished and couldnt milk for 2 weeks before i came back to face into 300 odd cows calving in ireland. I had money put away but ive my flights and accomadation paid for on a holiday in sydney for new years so it wasnt long going but i dont mind spending it on that as im young once. It is hard save money here works back to over €6 a pint but its not like home where your out every week but youd still have a nice bit spent on beer in a month between going for one here and there. New Zealand isnt a place to get rich quick maybe if you came at the start of the rebuild youd be in a nice position but generally if you want to make it big farming over here youd be taking on a lot of debt to do so. Have a friend here two and a half years said he lived lean enough never went too wild was in a higher position than me so i presume more money and he said with the conversion to euros hes really saved SFA. Its not the money as such its not too bad compared to what other lads i know are on, its just i like to be busy in total i had around 5hrs of breaks today its a fairly cruisy farm to be fair. But your sacrificing youre evenings and mornings for that 5 hours as in your in bed early and up very early. Id rather start at half five finish at five at the latest and be busy the whole day. Ive given up wearing gloves milking as i have hands like an office worker after starting work here no hardship in it.

I reckon youd live a lot leaner in the city i.e shared accomadation, closer to amenities, option to cycle/walk instead of driving 30 minutes to towm. There would also be more discipline in the city there is no way youd be going for a pint here and there and you know it wouldnt tutn into a big midweek session either as theres a chance youd be bagged at work the next morning on the farms drink isnt the main problem its drugs theres a serious problem with drugs on farms here were drug free as far as i know anyway most of us here have some cop on. The lads i know in the city would be a bit older thsn most of us here but still would rather see us crash on there floor than pay for a hostel one lad got three lads from home sorted with work and there still living with him at the moment after they got made a f#ck of on the farms. Were not short of friends up there. Rent would be the biggest cost in the city though

carrollsno1

K.G. wrote: »

Two things where do you see yourself in 5years.can one of the options be parked for a while and revisit in 12 months

Hopefully the father will qualify for the farm retirement scheme by then or something like that hes in his 50s farms in the process of being signed over he said he needs to keep it for 5 years to get something off it but hell need to farm it for 6 for agricultural relief. He told me dont rush back see the world and try bring some money back to go farming. Can see myself having to pay him off maybe, maybe hed be glad to be rid of it, parents would be comfortable enough. The farms worth more to my neighbours than me so id be looking to lease it and set up my own dairy farm on leased/bought land somewhere in ireland id nearly rather it wasnt in my home county, i hate hurling and life revolves around hurling there thats why im mad for road the whole time. Would like to take a break from farming though too, really want to do a harvest in oz too but once you get out of it its hard get back into it unless your doing it for yourself

carrollsno1

Timmaay wrote: »

Yeh Carrol actually what are your future plans, do you have a farm to come home to here in Ireland etc? If so then 100% try out a different sector completely outside of farming if you have not done so before.

A run down fragmented farm surrounded by dairy farmers and stud farmers, all looking for more ground. Great land but the single farm payment ruined it.

carrollsno1

In relation to Australia its on the list, purely because theres competition with the mining and oil for labour. I really like new zealand and would like to stay another year. Its not that im not learning a lot here either i just expected to learn more, i definitly dont know everything and have yet to meet anyone that does everydays a school day here.

In relation to the 2 legged woman, ive never had as much female attention in the last few weeks ever before in my life. Tis sad to say im nearly getting as much as a single man in very rural New Zealand compared to a single man near a city at home and as the time i was doing a line with a local girl back home. We reckon they like a bit of ignorance out here for some reason, also not being back home and having the whole parish gawking at you chatting up a young one helps a lot too. Just hoping ill be a stranger to the lads back home when i do return 😂😂😂 also theres not a huge amount of pressure on lads to be getting women out here as were all in the one boat really, the only people who ask about women out here are the mammies when they ring, it torments the sh#te out of some lads

carrollsno1

Think ive covered everybody in that

einn32

Work every job you want to I'd say. You meet new people and gain new skills. I worked in landscaping for 6 months in Melbourne after all the farming. It was refreshing. As long as you work hard and have common sense they appreciate you. That's my experience anyway.

carrollsno1

Think ive been sold the idea of oz. Messaged a mate to go for a pint he upped sticks and headed across there. Said id pull in the equivaland of NZ $2700 a week working a shovel, im currently on NZ $1385 a fortnight. Reckons cost of livings the same as christchurch, only theres more beer and rent is higher. Have an uncle there would be mad to give me a start there too. Would nearly drop this job in the morning if i could and go shearing for a few months then head over. But ill stay here till the end of the season anyway

davidk1394

carrollsno1 wrote: »

Think ive been sold the idea of oz. Messaged a mate to go for a pint he upped sticks and headed across there. Said id pull in the equivaland of NZ $2700 a week working a shovel, im currently on NZ $1385 a fortnight. Reckons cost of livings the same as christchurch, only theres more beer and rent is higher. Have an uncle there would be mad to give me a start there too. Would nearly drop this job in the morning if i could and go shearing for a few months then head over. But ill stay here till the end of the season anyway

If you have close connections in Australia you'll be sorted. I've a few friends out there driving diggers. Its not as simple as digging a hole they have to be able to read plans and that. Their going well but the lad their working for is known for being a cowboy