From classroom to milking shed

Brookby couple Carmen and Jacco Verheij with Nathan and Naomi. Photo / Greg Bowker

Jacco Verheij works 85 hours a week, but says his children still have more time with their parents than they would if the family had stayed in town.

As a sharemilker on a dairy farm at Brookby in South Auckland, Mr Verheij, 32, falls into the category of farmers and farm managers who are more likely to work long hours than any other group of New Zealanders.

He and his wife Carmen, 26, are both trained teachers who decided to go farming for the sake of their daughter Naomi, aged 2, and their baby son Nathan, 9 months.

"We knew this farm would be really busy, but we know that if we work hard at it for a few years we will hopefully get somewhere," he said.

The couple have bought land near Eketahuna, northern Wairarapa, and are now rearing the cows they will transfer to it eventually.

Under their plan, Mrs Verheij will remain a fulltime mum until the children are old enough for her to go back teaching, and Mr Verheij will be with them on the farm.

"The kids are going to get more attention - that was the whole reason behind going farming," he said.

He gets up between 4am and 4.30am to milk the farm's 550 cows, with two employees, until breakfast with the family about 7.30am.

"I aim to have 45 to 60 minutes inside. Our kids are very young so I get to catch them for that time."

He gets another hour with the family at lunchtime, sometimes an hour and a half in the house if there is paperwork to do or phone calls to make.

After the afternoon milking, he has "everything wound up" by 5.30pm.

Unlike most dairy farmers, who have time off in winter when the cows are not milked before calving, the Brookby farm operates year-round with calvings in spring and autumn.

Having two employees enables Mr Verheij to take every second weekend off.