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While Irish people often spend a season on farms in New Zealand (NZ), this year seven kiwis were welcomed on Irish farms through a programme operated by the Farm Relief Service (FRS).
The aim is to attract seasonal workers to Ireland, during the quiet season in New Zealand.
In total, seven New Zealanders came on the FRS NZ-Ireland Farm Work Exchange programme in 2019.
FRS is hoping to welcome 10 to 15 more NZ workers in January and are currently recruiting. FRS said it has already held a number of interviews and secured some people.
Irish Country Living caught up with Nicole Hollands, one of the seven that arrived in Ireland on time for calving season, on the farm of Thomas and Shirley Honner in Co Wicklow.
New experience
Nicole Hollands spent a lot of her childhood on her grandparent’s farm in Matamata, two hours south of Auckland in New Zealand. She found the job with FRS through Fonterra’s ‘farm source’ jobs scheme.
“I had been looking at the UK, but when I saw this advertised I decided to go with it,” said Nicole. She got a working holiday visa to come to Ireland, which she says is quite easy to get.
“You just have to have a minimum amount of money in your account; $3,000 and have booked a return flight or $6,000 without a return flight. Because I came through the Farm Relief Services, they sorted that.”
However, Nicole says that once she was offered a job, there was very little information given before arriving in Ireland, which made the experience quite unnerving.
“I found it through Fonterra’s farm source jobs scheme. I did a few Skype interviews, I didn’t know what farm I was going to until two days before my flight.
“I had no idea how much I would be paid or what kind of work I would be doing. But I was collected, brought to a pub where I met the FRS lady for Wicklow named Kathleen. She brought me out to the farm, I met the owners and then went to bed. I was exhausted.”
So after recovering from her travelling, Nicole woke up in the house of her new employers. Fortunately, they got on well from the start.
“On the farm, it wasn’t straight into work. Tom and Shirley had a funeral. After that, I got into it,” Nicole said. “The big change for me was the cubicle shed and cows on bedding inside. That was very foreign to me. It was so strange.
I expected that there would be a lot more feeding out and tractor work in Ireland
“Herds are smaller here [compared to New Zealand]. My family milk just slightly more than 200 cows at home in Matamata – there are a lot of 200 herds there as well as 300, 400 and 500. You wouldn’t see too many over 700. There are lots of share milkers and contract milkers.
“I expected that there would be a lot more feeding out and tractor work in Ireland, a lot more labour intensive. It turned out to be 100% what I expected. Everyone’s stock comes in for the winter in Ireland, you can’t save much labour on that.
“Tom and Shirley have the straw chopper and cubicle cleaner, they are as efficient as you can be. I actually really enjoyed the work.”
Adjusting to Irish life
Nicole wasn’t expecting “bacon, cabbage and mash would be good, but it was amazing”. It took her seven months before she tried a cup of tea with milk in it, and is bringing a box of Barry’s tea bags home with her. In the meantime, Nicole introduced the Honner household to herbal teas.
“[Living with your employers] gives you a good idea of Irish life, I learned a lot from the kids [Daisy and Cherry] and they learned a lot from me. They had never heard of cream cheese and salmon in an omelette.”
Nicole also joined Macra na Feirme in Kildare, which she says really helped her to settle in. She even represented Kildare in the Queen of the Land festival earlier this month.
It was good to see where everyone else lived because it’s not the same when you meet up in Dublin or Galway
“If you come over and just work and saw nobody, it would be horrible. You need someone to go out with and have a good time. I met up with the other New Zealand workers here too. I did a roadie (roadtrip) around Ireland and met up with them all, had a look at everyone’s farms. It was good to see where everyone else lived because it’s not the same when you meet up in Dublin or Galway.”
For the Ireland v New Zealand match in the rugby world cup, Nicole was watching it in Dublin with her kiwi cohort, which she said was a special experience.
Lessons learned
Nicole went home to New Zealand earlier this month and plans to do a three-year course in agribusiness and food marketing. Would she recommend Ireland to others?
“I would recommend a season in Ireland to other kiwis, just be prepared for Irish time.
“During the busy times when the cows were calving you had a whole heap of extra jobs you do. An extra 10-20 minutes to each job, and all of a sudden two hours have gone. I think in NZ if you have staff it is more structured. Unless you are the owner-operator, most staff would be done by 6pm at night. Most bosses might check on stock and if there is one calving, you calve it there and then so everyone gets a good night’s sleep.”
Nicole believes Ireland and New Zealand can learn a lot from each other, particularly around the area of succession.
You are better off working for other people for a while so you can see how things can be done better
While it can be easier as a young farmer to get access to land in New Zealand, succession within families can also be an issue there.
“Nanna and Pop [Nicole’s grandparent’s] didn’t want me or my sister go farming, yet we are both in the industry. If you are working for your family your whole life you are going to be very similar to your parents.
“You are better off working for other people for a while so you can see how things can be done better. Your family are often not open to new ideas which sucks because you could be way more efficient.
“I’ve worked for my grandparents but they don’t have a succession plan. They want to hold on for as long as they can, to keep themselves young and I understand that.”
The industry does so much for everyone
In the meantime, Nicole plans to complete her course in agribusiness and go into the food marketing industry. She says she has a keen interest in marketing. With Jacinda Ardern’s government putting increasing environmental pressure on farming, Nicole believes that the agricultural industry can do more to help rectify its image.
“It’s so disheartening to see the news or Facebook and there’s another article about how farming is bad. The industry does so much for everyone. Jacinda Ardern is just selling off New Zealand to buy carbon credits… and really trying to hinder food production.”
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