KEY POINTS:
Teenagers are the target of the booming dairy industry's latest marketing blitz. With the established Go Dairying campaign aimed at adults working in other fields, the internet-based Get Fresh initiative is luring school leavers with the promise of an exciting career and steep pay scale.
Dairy New Zealand's Geoff Taylor said 3500 people had contacted the site since its launch in April.
One goal was to make young people aware of the range of roles involved in dairying, including scientists, engineers and marketers.
"It's not just about the cows and grass stuff," Taylor said. "We're talking to young people in their own language, making the industry look a bit more fun and modern."
Taylor said dairying offered a quick route to a fat pay cheque.
An inexperienced farm worker could expect to start on around $28,000 a year but their take-home pay could double within two years.
Experienced farm managers earn up to $150,000.
"So you can see 22- or 23-year-olds who are pulling in anywhere between $50,000 and $60,000.
"These salaries are highly comparable to what's paid in the corporate sector."
The Get Fresh and Go Dairying campaigns are being driven by the sector's rapid expansion, a long-term fall in the number of family operated farms and job shortages.
Taylor estimated between 70 and 100 beef or sheep farms had started the switch to dairying in the past year.
At the end of December, almost a quarter of employers were seeking farm staff, with 13 per cent of vacancies open for at least six months.
Tesha and Bryan Gibson swapped the city life for dairying seven years ago and already earn triple what they did in their former jobs.
She was weary of the office politics in her management accountant job and Bryan was tired of being on call around the clock as an agricultural engineer.
They decided to rent out their Hamilton home for a year and try their hand at dairying.
"I didn't want to end up being 40 and thinking, 'Gee, we didn't give it a shot'," said Tesha.
They worked their way up from general farm jobs to owning the 430 cows and machinery on Bryan's parents' farm in Reporoa, Waikato.
Townie Tesha has been won over by the rural life. "I quite like getting out and getting dirty, actually.
"Learning to drive the machinery was quite a challenge, especially overcoming my fear of rolling the tractor. But I enjoy confronting that."
The latest Go Dairying campaign, which ran from February to April, attracted 4000 calls, with 2600 judged genuine prospects.
A large majority of callers were aged 18 to 45 and about 700 were considered very likely to follow through and find a job.
Of those, 17 per cent were working in trades, 14 per cent in service and sales and 8 per cent in professional and administrative roles.
Taylor said the proportion of women in dairying was rising. "Not wanting to stereotype, employers say women tend to be very attentive to animal health and welfare."
Tesha said the trick for women was using their brains to compensate for their lack of brawn.
The second stage of the Get Fresh campaign, planned for the second half of the year, will educate young people about the courses needed for a career in dairying.
A quick glance at the Bebo page of one young farmer reveals the strategy could be overdue.
One of the questions posted by a visitor to Tony Janssen's site reads: "Hi, when do cows start calving? is it different in different regions, for example, Bay of Plenty and Waikato?"
