We are looking for a 2x full time Farm Assistants/Calf Rearers to join our team for the coming dairy season on our 650 cow dairy farm.
Start date will be around the start of August 2020, but we can provide accommodation to suitable applicants earlier - accommodation is available from mid-June (there may be the odd job you can help with to experience some farm life before calving starts). We are looking for people that can commit until at least the end of December 2020/early January 2021, but would love to find someone wanting to stay a full dairy year with us.
The job would include milking cows, bringing cows to the shed, cleaning, spraying weeds, feeding calves, helping with general farm tasks etc. Farm experience is not necessary, but you must be willing to get stuck in, be keen to learn, have good communication skills and most of all, love animals. Your own comfortable and warm 1 bedroom cottage accommodation would be available, which is furnished, has internet and power paid for (this would only be suited to a couple or 2 friends travelling together willing to share, sorry we can't take single travellers as it may not be fair to the other employee to have to share housing). We do live rurally and about 30mins from the closest towns with supermarkets, so a car would be handy for you to have. We are centrally located to the Catlins, Dunedin & Central Otago (Queenstown etc), so its not too far to go to explore on your days off.
Dairy farming isn't an easy job, so it has to be something you WANT to do, rather than it just being a job. It does involve some early starts (4AM at times), work in the pouring rain occaisonally, days where things don't go to plan and some long days. I understand there are a lot of misplaced people without jobs due to Covid, but please make sure farming is something you want to do before applying - we have 650 cows calving over a 10 week period in August - October, so having the right team on board is very important for us and our cows. When applying, please tell us a little about yourself and why you are interested in a farming job.
One person will mainly help with the calves and a small amount with the cows, the other will mainly be working with cows. Hours per day and break times may vary per person each day, but we will aim for both people to be able to take the same days off throughout. Hourly rate paid fortnightly with an agreed deduction for rent.
We are on instagram - @penultodairies if you'd like to see a few photos!
