TATC - Past Student Stories

Graduates' Stories

Sarah Poppleton – Massey University Student

Sarah Poppleton is originally from Foxton. She graduated from Taratahi in December 2007, coming out with a National Certificate in Agriculture Level 4 (Dairy). Like many Taratahi students, she had secured a position on a farm before she had graduated, which meant a quick transition from study into working life. She shares some of her experiences.

The first job I applied for while I was at Taratahi I got. It was great to get a job so quickly but I think this was also partly because my employer had had students from Taratahi before and his daughter also went to Taratahi. The great thing about coming out of Taratahi is that I had learned so much and really felt prepared for work, especially having done Level 4. Those extra six months really brought together everything I had learned in Levels 2 & 3. The facilities and tutoring at Taratahi are really good. The whole thing was a good experience. And I also made lots of good friends while I was there.

I would definitely recommend going to Taratahi to people who are interested in agriculture. In fact we had a bus load of Massey students visit the farm recently and when their tutor found out I was a Taratahi graduate he was really enthused and asked lots of questions. He hopes that one of his children will attend.

What I really like about Taratahi is that it doesn’t matter whether you are a beginner or not, whether you are a girl or a boy, the staff will give you all the time in the world to learn and develop skills – they’re really supportive.

Sarah is now studying at Massey University for an Agri-Science Degree

Source: Dairy NZ website

Scott Gordon – 2006 Taratahi graduate, Graduate Agribusiness Partner, BNZ, Taranaki

I am originally from New Plymouth but I have always had an interest in farming. Taratahi was the perfect place for me to get a grasp on all the basic tenets of farming, both practically and with the theory side of things. I did the Taratahi Certificate in Agriculture, Dairy then went on to do my Level 4 advanced certificate. After leaving Taratahi I got a job as a farm assistant on a 400 cow high input dairy farm in Kaponga for 10 months before I started at Massey University. At Massey I did an Agri-Business degree before landing my current job as a Graduate Agribusiness Partner for BNZ, Taranaki. Taratahi was hugely influential in getting me where I am today. For me, I didn’t really get into education until I went to Taratahi, where I was learning things that I had an interest and passion for. Throughout University I was able to use the practical aspects of my time at Taratahi, and tie it into the theoretical aspects that Massey required. When I applied for the banking graduate jobs I was able to show that I had practical knowledge as well as farm financial management skills, rather than just being an ‘academic’. When I am dealing with clients I can directly relate to them in terms of issues they are experiencing, and helping solve problems they encounter.

Cat Burkitt – 2006 Taratahi graduate.

I was a city girl from Wellington with no prior farming experience before going to Taratahi. I heard about the course through my school and thought it would be a faster and more hands on approach to farming than going to University and sitting in a lecture hall. I did the Taratahi Certificate in Agriculture, Dairy then went on to do my Level 4 as well. I meet my future husband at Taratahi (Caleb Burkitt)! After we left we went to work together on a farm milking 500 cows in Taranaki. We are now milking 200 cows on Caleb’s uncle’s farm and hoping to go 50/50 share milking in the 2010/2011 season. We have already bought 50 calves and are all set to buy this year’s calves too. Taratahi really helped both of us get to where we are today. I was completely clueless when it came to farming so I was like a blank canvas and took in as much as I could. Our future goals are to pay off our 50/50 loan and be considering further purchases, whether that be land or farm improvements.

Scott Guy

Before I even left Taratahi, I had a job lined up on a dairy farm. I spent a season there and then decided to do my Diploma in Agriculture at Massey University.

I did a couple of years on our family dairy farm and then decided to try farming in Australia, so I went to far north Queensland and worked on a variety of cattle properties. The sizes of the stations ranged from 250,000 Ha to 1,000,000 Ha.

When I came back to New Zealand I worked for a season as Head Stockman on a sheep and beef station in the Hawke’s Bay before moving back to the family farm where I am now managing dry stock and cropping. I try to stay out of the cowshed as much as possible these days!

Taratahi taught me so much which I put into practice every day. After 10 years I picked up a hand piece and shore a sheep as if I had just left. The skills I learnt there were invaluable and I am still best mates with some of the guys I met at Taratahi.

Campbell Bremner

After leaving Taratahi I started work on a 3000 acre property 15 minutes east of Dannevirke as a junior shepherd where I used all the skills I learnt at Taratahi. At the end of my second year I was offered the senior shepherd’s job which I saw as a great opportunity to start climbing the ladder of my farming future. I stayed there for another 2 years until it was time to take on a new challenge.

I moved to Patoka, east of Napier were I worked alongside my boss on a Romney stud. This was a good chance to work with a young energetic person who had just brought the property. I was there for two years and I was able to learn more about the theory side of sheep breeding and I was also put through a farm management course.

I then moved onto a large and well renowned Romney stud on the Napier-Taihape road, to take on the new challenge of Stock Manager. In my two years there I helped the owners expand the operation and then I left to work on a property in another Stock Manager’s position that will set me up to take on a Farm Manager’s position.

While I have been in the Hawke’s Bay, I have been Chairman of the local Young Farmers Club and also Vice Chairman for the East Coast region.

Earl McSweeney

Earl McSweeney studied the Dairy option at Taratahi and left in 1994 with a Merit Pass. For the next six years he worked on a variety of properties before becoming Herd Manager on a dairy conversion in Temuka.

Earl then took a break from dairying and used his agricultural knowledge to sell fertiliser and animal health products to farmers. When he returned to farming he spent a couple of years managing his parents farm before becoming a lower order sharemilker near Ashburton. Whilst there Earl married Melissa and in 2005 their daughter Ella was born. After a period of 50/50 sharemilking they moved on to an equity partnership on a 555 cow conversion at Alford Forest near Methven and in 2007 their son Caden was born.

Steph Mann

After I finished the Sheep & Beef Course at Taratahi, I had a few interesting and varied farming jobs including relief milking and a stint on a horse, sheep & beef farm, which was pretty cool. After getting married I had a few years off the farm whilst the children grew up and then I went back to school and trained to be a vet nurse. From there I moved on to being a Rural Ag Technician which is like a large animal vet nurse, but more independent.

Now I'm the Programme Coordinator for Rural Ag Technician Course, Year 1, with Otago Polytechnic. I love my job and really do feel that going to Taratahi played a huge part in my journey here.

Work and family don’t leave me much time for farming, but we have a few acres which I run like I would any farm. We keep horses, breed Suffolk ewes and cut hay. I shear my own sheep and do all my fencing, fertiliser calcs etc. so even now I am using the skills I learnt at Taratahi.

Trixie and Greg Duckett (as told by Trixie)

I studied sheep and beef at Taratahi and it was the best year of my life! After leaving I got job on a dairy farm near Palmerston North and after a couple of years I took a break from farming and moved to Wellington and later to Melbourne.

When I came back to New Zealand I got a relief milking job in Martinborough which turned into full time employment on a 1000 cow farm and that is where I met Greg.

Greg started at Taratahi two years after I left and got a Merit on his Dairy course. Five years after leaving he was managing a farm in Eketahuna. The next year we went 25% sharemilking in Kahutara, whilst I worked on a nearby dairy farm. Three years later we went 50/50 sharemilking in Featherston and plan to grow the herd from a starting point of 280 to an eventual total of 400 milkers. In our second season we increased the family to three with the birth of our daughter, Daniella.

Andrew O'Conner

Having a love for the outdoors and a desire for working in the farming industry is great, but when you don’t come from a farm it can be difficult getting your first start.

That’s how it was for Andrew O’Connor who hails from Tauranga. “ I used to work on my Uncle’s Dairy Farm during some school holidays but I knew I needed training and I wanted to learn the best way to do things, and not just how my uncle did them." Andrew learnt about Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre and its courses in dairying from a careers expo in the Bay of Plenty. From there he decided to try one of the taster courses that Taratahi run during the school holidays.

After finding the taster course to his liking, Andrew started his year at Taratahi in January 2002, enrolling in the Certificate of Agriculture – Dairying. "The course was everything I hoped it would be, and now I feel I am competent in skills such as fencing, dairy skills, vehicles, maintenance work and even shearing and the killing of sheep for mutton. I also got my Heavy Traffic license during the course, which I know will be beneficial for my future. Socially the year has been excellent too. Living in the hostel has helped me develop good mates that will last a lifetime.

I would recommend the course to anyone who wants to get into the agriculture industry, who likes working outdoors and who wants to make farming their future."

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Kelly Hickford

Kelly Hickford went to Inglewood High School in Taranaki. She says “I’ve always enjoyed the farming life style, and when I left school I decided I wanted to work on a farm for 6 months before coming to Taratahi. That way I could earn some money and get a bit more on farm experience. “I could have just stayed on a farm and kept working, but the way I see it, coming to Taratahi helps you to learn the proper way to do things, you get to experience a wide range of farming activities, and it’s bulk learning opposed to experience on farms which can take years to gain the same farming knowledge and skills. Hopefully it will help me to move faster up the farming ranks when I do work in the industry too.”

Because funding was an issue for Kelly, she decided to go on the Internet and search out any scholarships she could apply for, to help her with the costs. “I must have written away to nearly 20 organisations telling them what I was planning to do and asking them for financial assistance. I was really surprised and grateful with the response - I got over $7,000.”

Kelly heard about Taratahi at a careers expo in Taranaki and then decided to do a 4 day taster course in the September holidays. This course resulted in her deciding to attend the full year Dairy Certificate. "Moving all the way to Masterton was a big lifestyle decision and the taster course encouraged me to give the full time course a go. It’s hard being away from family and friends, but it’s good fun and a great experience and will be well worth it at the end. I loved the taster course that much that I decided there and then I wanted to do the full time course.”

When asked what the best parts of the course were for her, she says, “I’ve met heaps of nice people who have the same interests as me, which is a real bonus. The staff are really good and take time to teach you the right way to do things. Hanging gates, fencing, driving/riding skills and welding have all been excellent, and it’s very rewarding learning new skills that will help me work towards a great career.”