Keryn Mullins tends her cows in the dark - and brings light to much of the rural community in her neck of the woods.
It's a small herd by Kiwi standards, just 300 cows. Every morning, before the sun rises, Keryn Mullins gets up to welcome the day with them.
"I love my cows; they are like my pets. I've been a dairy farmer forever and wouldn't want it any other way."
Brought up on a dairy farm near Edgecumbe in the Bay of Plenty, Mullins hasn't strayed far from her roots. The farm she runs with husband Paul is just 5km away from the town and she works at Fonterra's Edgecumbe HQ.
"Our farm is 84ha, a little baby really. But the size means we can run the farm ourselves," she explains.
She rises at 4.30am during calving season (set to start on July 10) and at the comparatively civilised hour of 5.30 for the rest of the year. She's not worried about rising with the birds.
"If you don't think about the time and just jump up with purpose, it's great," she says.
Every day begins out in the fields, barn or milking shed. Then it's off with the gumboots and on with office attire before heading to her day job at Fonterra Edgecumbe, where she is PA to the operations manager.
It's a busy life but one she 'wouldn't swap for quids'. While the farm is her heart and soul, she loves her job at Fonterra - especially her work with the community-oriented Fonterra Grass Roots Fund.
It enables rural communities to facilitate innovative ideas and initiatives through funding allocations. The funds are distributed locally through committees that make decisions around the benefits each project has to the wider community.
"I've been working with the fund since it began about 10 years ago," she says. "It started off as a small part of my role but has grown significantly. It's wonderful to be able to help the rural communities around the district."
Mullins chairs a committee helping to make funding decisions for projects from South Waikato to Napier and down to Gisborne.
The committee is made up of a range of people representing many interest groups. That diversity ensures all the voices in a community are heard when it comes to funding decisions.
Mullins estimates around 50 projects are funded each year in the district covered. She and other Grass Roots Fund facilitators are involved in the whole process, from judging the merits of each application to visiting groups for follow-up after the funding has been received.
"I love that part of the job," she says. "I get to be a judge at calf club shows and hand out ribbons. It's so great to see what a difference the funds make to the life of the community."
One of the more recent funding allocations went to the isolated rural community of Ruatoki. The local rugby club applied for funds to buy a defibrillator - and the community now has a potentially life-saving piece of medical equipment.
"All the people in the local community have access to this," says Mullins. "It's wonderful we can help out in such a practical way."
Another stand-out for Mullins was the allocation of funds to the Eastern Bay of Plenty Alzheimer's organisation. The money funded a device attached to sufferers via a pendant or watch-type wrist band; if they wander off, they can be tracked by the local police and brought back home.
"It's a really wonderful device and offers families so much peace of mind," she says.
Like all good farmers, Mullins isn't scared of hard work. The gumboots are back on after she's home from Fonterra: "I love coming home in the evening, and getting out on the farm, even when it's cold and wet."
She's looking forward to the upcoming calving, even though it means a 4.30 start.
"Hopefully we'll have 300 calves, so there will be a lot to do. It's hard work and incredibly challenging at times but I really enjoy this time of year."
Brought to you in association with Fonterra. Search #431AM