A training venture on Māori land near Hawera is now sending its first trainees into the workforce, and, says the training director, they are in demand.

The Te Rua o Te Moko Land Based Training Farm School, a collaborative venture between Land Based Training Ltd, and Te Rua o Te Moko opened in February this year.  Te Rua o Te Moko is a 189 hectare joint venture dairy farm milking 500 cows which brings together five Māori land blocks and 1,100 owners.

Doug Brooks, trustee of one of the blocks and a director of the company that runs the farm, says the results from the training centre have been “fabulous”.  “As landowners, our vision was to bring young ones back to the land.  We want to give them the knowledge so they can go out and have a career, and - who knows - maybe a trainee from right here will be running our dairy farm one day.”

"Sweet as"

“Farm life is the bomb,” says Lisa Dobson who began study in February after she was made redundant from laundry work at Fonterra.  “The course is sweet as!  You couldn't find better tutors, and it’s really agriculture focused.”  Lisa, who was the first from the course to get a job, is now working in Pangarehu milking and feeding out calves. “If I never started this course, there is no way I would have this job now,” she says.

Managing Director of Land Based Training Rob Gollan, says trainee feedback has been great.  “They are telling us they are feeling more confident on the farm, and right now they’re in the middle of calving and loving it,” he says.

Learning the business

“There is a lot of interest from employers around the area in these young people, as they have the theory as well as the work practice.  The classrooms are on the farm, and they’re learning right at the business end of things.”

Rob says that the aim is for the trainees to carry on with their study at the centre once they are employed.  “We want them to finish their qualifications so they have a good long term career in front of them.”

Anyone interested in training at the centre is welcome to attend the Open Day on 22 September from 1pm – 3pm.  For directions and more information, call toll free 0508 872 4663, or email info@landbasedtraining.co.nz.  You can also download an invitation and application form from our website www.landbasedtraining.co.nz

Training centre

  • Land Based Training Ltd/Te Rua o Te Moko training centre situated on Te Rua o Te Moko farm Austin Road Normanby
  • Takes up to 12 trainees a year
  • Teaches Level 3 Certificate in Agriculture

Te Rua o Te Moko

  • 189 hectares in Normanby, Taranaki
  • 5 blocks brought into one farm in a joint venture arrangement in 2009
  • 1,100 owners represented by private trustees and Te Tumu Paeroa
  • Farmed under a 50:50 sharemilking contract