The Dairy Farmer

Cole Groves is an Auckland city boy who caught the dairy bug at the age of seven, when visiting his aunt, a sharemilker in the Waikato. At 21 years old, Cole was already a farm manager.

Can you describe exactly what you do?
My role as farm manager is to look after the farm day to day and delegate work to staff. I also do milking twice a day. That's along with any maintenance and other jobs on-farm.

What are your tasks?
The day starts pretty early. I look after 1,100 cows and have five staff reporting to me. It's a lot of responsibility and I take the job seriously. But I love the work.

Is a degree important for the work you do?
I did a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree at Lincoln and I've been doing part-time work here for the last three seasons. I was a recipient of the DairyNZ Undergraduate Scholarship, so my first four years tuition were paid for me - that was pretty sweet! Going through Lincoln is really a great way to get your foot in the door of the agriculture industry. Lots of staff members and employers have been through Lincoln; it's a good name to have on your CV.

What are the perks of this job?
I stay in a house rent-free, have a motorbike to ride around the farm and I don't have to sit in traffic every day. When we finish at around 4.30pm, we go swimming or tubing down the river, jet-boating or clay-pigeon shooting, which is one of my favourite hobbies.

How have your city mates responded to your choice of career?
They were shocked when I said I was going to become a dairy farmer, but they're even more shocked when I tell them how much I earn!