Tomorrows people: A lonely lesson in hard graft

It can be a solitary lifestyle but he is committed to it, a young farmer tells FIONA BARBER.

If Karl van Eyk has his way, the land will be his future. He will own or manage a dairy farm with modern farming methods and he will look after the animals and earth under his stewardship.

These are the aims of a young man who embraces what is challenging and new and who is not afraid of hard work.

"Set yourself goals - change is good, I reckon," says the 19-year-old who works on a farm on the rich Waikato dairy country encircling Hamilton.

The experience is one of the foundations for the working life Karl hopes New Zealand will afford him.

Another building block for the future is the learning he is undertaking through Waikato Polytechnic and the Agricultural Industry Training Organisation.

Van Eyk has already completed a certificate of agriculture and is working towards a national certificate. Also on the cards is study towards a diploma at Massey University.

Qualifications are important, he says, and dairy farmers in this country need to learn more skills.

"Some people think farming is a drop-out job," says the tall, angular young man who seems affronted by such notions.

You get the feeling that this 19-year-old sitting at a farmhouse table is not a bit interested in half-measures or excuses. The knockers - those people with negative attitudes - get him down.

"You should get qualifications and have a positive attitude - innovation is critical for this industry," he says.

In keeping with his drive for learning, van Eyk would eventually like to be part of an agricultural exchange programme which would allow him a glimpse of farming overseas.

But he does see his long-term future in New Zealand - perhaps on the family farm at Kerepehi on the Hauraki Plains. His father Neil, an immigrant from Holland, his New Zealand-born mother Jan and his 16-year-old sister Marie still live on the 85ha property.

He went to Hauraki Plains College in Ngatea, then Waihi College, and received school certificate and sixth form certificate before leaving to work on his uncle's farm.

This year he decided to study for the certificate of agriculture and launched himself into the work with the sort of energy which seems a hallmark of the teenager.

"I saved up all my own money - I really worked hard. I love to keep busy, I find it hard to sit down."

At polytechnic van Eyk has classmates who know about the sometimes harsh and solitary existence of farm life. He understands all about 4.30 am starts and that weekends off cannot be guaranteed - the cows still need milking.

He harbours social, environmental and political hopes and concerns for New Zealand.

"Keep this country green and don't abuse it. Don't cut every tree down and farm properly. Don't be slack and leave rubbish around - look after it (the environment)," he says emphatically.

"More police and fewer members of Parliament" is another of his prescriptions for a better country, although he recognises that crime is a part of societies everywhere.

Van Eyk is waiting to see what the new Government serves up to the rural sector but he wants the export industry sorted out. That means decreasing the value of the New Zealand dollar to make exports more competitive in the world arena.

He points to Ireland as an example of an economy which New Zealand should try to emulate.

"I feel we (farmers) are not getting appreciated enough. We're not gods or anything but we should focus on the export system. Exporters get more money into the country."

While the enforced stripping of tariffs and subsidies has been difficult, it has also made farmers stronger and able to make better business decisions, he says.

"We have to be strict and economical. We must be some of the world's best farmers, I reckon. We don't get looked after, we have to fight for our survival, so that makes us better farmers, better people."

The strict parameters farmers work under must not, however, affect some important aspects of farming, he says.

"Animal health and maintenance and spending money on the farm are critical."

He does not want to see the dairy industry changed to the point where the dollar overrides everything. Large intensive farms, he says, could put pressure on animals.

"When farms get too commercial it gets out of hand - it's like working in a factory."

Van Eyk, who was raised a Catholic, would eventually like to settle down with someone who shares his goals. But he concedes that the lifestyle he has chosen sometimes makes socialising difficult.

"It's good to get away from the farm to see your friends."

In the meantime there is still much to learn ... and 530 cows to milk every day.