Wednesday, 17 May 2023 10:55

Fun farming comp at school

Written by  Staff Reporters
Kiwitahi School students help transferring grains through an auger. Kiwitahi School students help transferring grains through an auger.

Students of Kiwitahi School near Morrinsville pulled on their gumboots and overalls to learn new rural skills in a fun Young Farmer Competition on May 2.

A variety of challenges were run by parents and rural organisations, including DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb New Zealand and the Rural Support Trust. These included herding sheep in real yards brought on to the school grounds, custom-building a child-sized grain auger and seed sorting.

DairyNZ's challenge was to put up a break fence, helping children learning new skills while having fun. Other challenges taught children the principles of milking a cow and how to check if a calf is in the right position for birthing.

All 70 Kiwitahi School pupils participated - 5-10 year-olds in Years 1-6.

Principal Nicholas Jensen says the feel-good event celebrated rural living and schools.

"Our community wants their pupils to gain a solid educational foundation in literacy and numeracy, but also a set of practical skills and theory that will contribute to life in or around the primary sector."

This is the second time the annual event has been held. Last year it was run entirely by parents and teachers. This year, rural organisations got involved - including Rural Support Trust, PGG Wrightson Seeds and Orion Haulage.

DairyNZ education and community engagement manager Phillippa Adam was excited to be involved in the day as part of the industry good body's broader education programme, connecting young New Zealanders with dairy farming.

"The young farmer contest was a brilliant opportunity for children to experience the many hats farmers wear and learn what farmers do. Young people are our future farmers," says Adam.

DairyNZ's education programme creates in-school science resource kits aligned to the New Zealand curriculum. The kits support schools to teach curriculum-based subjects such as science and maths within a unique dairying context.

DairyNZ also organises visits to dairy farms for schoolchildren and gives children the opportunity to learn more about dairy farming at home on the Rosie's World website.

More like this

Owl Farm marks 10 years as NZ’s first demonstration dairy farm

In 2015, the signing of a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge, and Lincoln University saw the start of an exciting new chapter for Owl Farm as the first demonstration dairy farm in the North Island. Ten years on, the joint venture is still going strong.

Featured

Carrfields invests in new Ashburton R&D hub

The Ashburton-based Carrfields Group continues to show commitment to future growth and in the agricultural sector with its latest investment, the recently acquired 'Spring Farm' adjacent to State Highway 1, Winslow, just south of Ashburton.

Elite sheep dogs to go head-to-head at Ashburton A&P Show

A major feature of the Ashburton A&P Show, to be held on October 31 and November 1, will be the annual trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial test match, with the best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman going head-to-head in two teams of four.

National

Machinery & Products

New pick-up for Reiter R10 merger

Building on experience gained during 10 years of making mergers/ windrowers, Austrian company Reiter has announced the secondgeneration pick-up on…

Krone EasyCut B1250 fold

In 2024, German manufacturer Krone introduced the F400 Fold, a 4m wide disc front mower, featuring end modules that hinge…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Microplastics problem

OPINION: Microplastics are turning up just about everywhere in the global food supply, including in fish, cups of tea, and…

Job cuts

OPINION: At a time when dairy prices are at record highs, no one was expecting the world's second largest dairy…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter