Farming in NZ far cry from back home in India

• Published date: 24 April 2024
• Publication title: Central Rural Life

Dairy manager Jaspreet Singh used to help his family look after eight to 10 cows, never thinking one day he would be responsible for a 1400-plus cow herd near Mid Canterbury’s Ashburton

Working in 40°C heat in his home country of India was a far cry from modern dairy farming in his new home.

He comes from a farming family whose main income earner is cropping cotton, rice and wheat with milking the small herd a self-contained business.

‘‘I have a farming background back home with my father having some land and we also keep some cows by the home, which mainly just fills up the household needs and anything extra we just sell. It’s mainly a crop farm and we grow cotton.’’

Helping with the day-to-day work with his father and brother helped him come up to speed with farm life here.

After finishing school at 19 he came to New Zealand in 2012 to study a business management course and worked at a liquor store and kiwifruit farms in his spare time.

Friends working at Leeston dairy farms backed him for his first start in a dairy assistant role at a 1500-cow property.

The green irrigated pastures with a modern milking plant and the sheer size of the herd were an eye-opener.

Mr Singh still recalls looking on with amazement at the intelligence of the quick-learning cow herd.

‘‘That was a pretty big surprise when I saw for the first time how many cows there were because that was a big step up for me. We aren’t used to that many cows and the first time I saw them I was impressed by how they trained so easily. We train the young cows and after the first couple of days they learn pretty quickly on how to go milking and how to get out of the road quickly. My first impression was how much common sense they had and how they adapted to the training and their life.’’

With only a one-year visa, he looked to extend this to three years so he could progress in the industry.

‘‘I was lucky to have a job at that time and was looking for any job that could give me a three-year visa. I got that job as an assistant and never thought I would be farming for this long, but next year I got a herd manager job and got a farming pathway.’’

He spent two and a-half years at Rakaia Island, shifting to become second in charge (2IC) in Ashburton with 2000 cows before moving to Purata as 2IC in 2017.

This steady progression accelerated when he moved to Grasslands for his first manager role and he stayed there for four years before moving again to his current position at an Ashburton farm.

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