Young Farmers Club geared up for Fieldays

Gareth Welch remembers his first day farming.

By 11am he hadn’t stopped, and there was still no sign of a break. “I was hanging out for breakfast but there was still so much to be done. I wondered what on earth I had got myself into.”

Welch stuck the calving season out and never looked back.

Now 21, he is seeing plenty of others taking the same route.  Welch is a member of the Te Kawa West Young Farmers Club and has been farming for three years after studying agriculture at Massey University.

There are 48 keen farmers that make up the Otorohonga/Te Awamutu Te Kawa West club. The club has both male and female members ranging from 18-30 years. “Anyone can join but it does help to have a rural background or interest,” Welch  says.

Longtime club member and experienced farmer Steven Honore said it was the lifestyle that attracted him to farming from a young age. “The lifestyle was a big thing for me. I mean, come on where would you rather be on a warm summer’s day than out in New Zealand’s green and clean outdoors? An office wouldn’t do for me at all.”

He said whenever the community needs a hand Te Kawa West young farmers are happy to muck in. Over the summer period Wharepuhunga preschool’s playground was totally rebuilt. “The club spent a day or so down there separating and shoveling bark around the park. We also ran an agri kids day for Pokuru School,” Honore  said.

The club has also been gearing up for Fieldays.

“Fieldays are probably the biggest event on the Young Farmers calendar, there is preparation proceeding all year round from the last Fieldays to the next,” Welch said.

“We have an exhibition tent every year. All members of the Young Farmers Society are expected to attend at some point of the Fieldays week. We have a little section dedicated to the clubs. Here we get the barbecue cranking and walk around the area talking to anyone that passes by about the club and their orientations.”

The Young Farmers also provide voluntary service for whoever needs it at the event. “This year we will be operating a courier round the site to transport goods. We are a friendly bunch and are always happy to do things between us,” Welch said.

Among jobs this year are weighing the tractors in the tractor pull competition and helping with the preparation of fencing competitions.

“In other years if there have been keen young men up for a laugh from our club and they are single of course we try to persuade them into the Rural Bachelor competition.”

The club recruited about 10-15 new members after the last Fieldays.

For further club enquiries call Gareth Welch on 027 340 0141