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Visitors get a close-up look at calves during Pāmu’s Pinta Farm open day.
For many urban New Zealanders, stepping into Pāmu’s Pinta dairy farm near Taupo last month was the first time they had had the chance to experience farm life up close.
More than 200 people registered from as far away as Hamilton, Tauranga and Auckland to join Pāmu people and partners for a rural-urban open farm day to get a behind-the-scenes look at modern dairy farming.
NZ Open Farms is an annual nationwide event designed to reconnect Kiwis with the land, food, and farmers who sustain the country. This year, the team at Pinta, led by farm manager Shane Cooper, welcomed a diverse group of visitors, including many first- and second-generation New Zealand families.
Making the day a success was a team effort, with support from Pāmu farm teams and apprentices, alongside industry partners. Central Transport Ltd fired up the BBQ for sausages, Synlait served up fresh pancakes, CFS set up hayrides, Fonterra FarmSource handed out flavoured milk and lollies, and VetPlus shared their animal expertise with excited visitors.
The team pulled out all the stops to make the day memorable. Visitors got up close with the animals, feeding calves and watching the cows being milked - a definite highlight. Families were able to try out gumboot throwing and trailer rides, paint baleage, explore the yards, and sit on tractors for photos.
The Pinta team also helped create a memorable hands-on experience. Visitors fed calves, watched cows being milked, took part in gumboot throwing, and even hopped on tractors for photos. The experience opened real conversations about where NZ's food comes from, says Cooper. "One visitor who milked 150 buffalo back in his old in his old country came today to see how we do milking in comparison," he says.
"And a local woman with her two boys said they often drive past our farms and were excited to finally see one up close.
"We were really surprised at how unique the day was for some of our visitors. People were asking if it was safe to touch the hay bales, and some questions came up like 'Where do you sleep?' and 'Where do you feed them?' and 'Where do you shower the cows?'"
Cooper adds that Pāmu is proud to be part of Open Farms and to help build connections between rural and urban New Zealand.
About Pinta Dairy Unit
Situated near Taupo, Pinta Dairy Unit is home to a team of nine permanent staff who care for 2,150 cows across 877ha effective. Pinta is operated by Pāmu, the brand name for government-owned Landcorp, New Zealand's largest pastoral farmer.
Pāmu operates 112 farms covering 356,048 hectares and managing over 1.25 million stock units with 630 employees. The state-owned enterprise says it is committed to "enhancing the future of agriculture, returning land under the Treaty of Waitangi settlements, and producing a financial return while focusing on sustainable and responsible farming practices and having regard to the communities."
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