Shepherding takes a turn for new mum

Shepherd Jasmine Neilson is finding a new normal looking after baby Payton while taking a break from her farming career.Photo / Alice Scott

It is a transition many rural mothers will remember well: that newborn stage when life out on the hill quickly becomes life inside the home. Alice Scott of the Otago Daily Times talks to shepherd Jasmine Neilson as she takes on the new challenge of motherhood.

All of her life, Jasmine Neilson says, the great outdoors has been her playground.

When she was 5 years old, her parents seized the chance to buy a farm after many years of hard saving. Father Andrew was a shearer and mother Sarah worked when she could, while also raising her and her three brothers.

The family moved to Caithness Run in the Pigroot, between Palmerston and Ranfurly, where her parents still reside and where Neilson filled her boots every day out on the farm with her father, embracing the rural way of life.

When she left school, Neilson (23) knew farming was the occupation for her, and she jumped at the opportunity when she was accepted for a cadetship at Jeff Farm.

"I didn't want to go to uni. I just felt I wanted to get stuck in and give [farming] a crack."

Neilson found it challenging being the only female cadet and trying to make friends

"I joined a netball team, which helped a lot, and I did a few dog trials.

"We were given all the knowledge there is when it comes to running dogs. I felt incredibly lucky."

From there she worked on a sheep and beef farm in Omakau and with her partner, Nick Drummond, moved to Hawke's Bay, where they worked on farms not far from each other.

"It was a very good experience; I was mostly just left to get on with things on my own and I grew a lot because of it," Neilson said.

Starting a family was on the cards for the couple and they chose to move back to the South to be closer to family.

Drummond works as a shepherd on a large station in Strath Taieri.

"I am so glad we did that; it can be a lonely time of life."

Baby Payton is now 7 weeks old, and Neilson is slowly adapting to a much quieter home life.

"I sold most of my dogs and I have just had to simplify things for now. It's most definitely been one of the hardest things I have done, being so used to the freedom of being outside and having something to show for your efforts.

"Now I have a little baby that has me on the couch feeding. Some days, nothing gets done and the hours just fly, but I am beginning to realise that's OK. I am really enjoying this new chapter of life and all the joy it brings."

Neilson heads over to her parents' farm once a week.

"I think it's good to get out of the house and see people, you spend so much of your day on your own otherwise.

"Farming isn't a 9-to-5 job and I can't expect that of Nick, so I just make sure I do what's right for me and Payton."

Soon Neilson will get a farm pup, which she is looking forward to training up and possibly on-selling.

She is also a keen horse rider and hopes to return to horse and hound hunting - "but maybe next year".