Waikato dairy farmer’s cautious optimism over migrant visa rule changes

Waikato dairy farmer Guy Kalma (left) and sharemilker Arun Badesra. Photo / Steve Edwards

A Waikato farmer who has long had overseas workers in his staff mix is cautiously optimistic about changes to migrant visa rules.

“It’s not a game-changer, but is going in the right direction,” says Guy Kalma, who runs 580 cows at Ngarua.

The Government recently announced moves to remove the median wage threshold, reduce experience requirements to two years and introduce new seasonal visa pathways to support employers to fill skill gaps.

The changes will be implemented in four different stages this year.

Immigration NZ is also re-designing the “job check” step of the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) process.

It says the changes, to be implemented from July, will help streamline the “job check” for low-risk employers and improve processing timeframes.

DairyNZ data shows 16% of farms do not have enough staff to meet their needs.

Kalma said fewer young Kiwis saw farming as an attractive career proposition.

“The sad fact is that the industry needs motivated people from other countries to fill the staffing shortage on farms here.

Saudi experience

Guy Kalma. Photo: Steve Edwards

Kalma’s experience with overseas farm workers goes back to 1997-1999 when he was one of 2000 people employed on a 28,000-cow farm in Saudi Arabia.

On his return to the family farm in New Zealand, he advertised for staff but got only two replies, neither with the skills required.

After being assisted by family and a staff agency for a year, Kalma organised work visas for three former staff members in Saudi, two from Nepal and one from Pakistan.

He says the process initially went smoothly, but renewals were more of a challenge.

“Every year the rules changed. There was always a new hoop to jump through. A simple process got harder and harder.

“Then, every five years or so, when it was politically expedient and the outcry from the agriculture sector go too strident, the rules would be relaxed and the process simplified before the conditions resumed getting tougher.

“While continual work visa applications were difficult, workers’ family visas and residency applications were more onerous again.”

After personal dealings with Immigration NZ became too time-consuming, he turned to a specialist immigration lawyer.

Kalma’s current sharemilker, Arun Badesra, initially came from India on a visitor’s visa to pursue his studies in commerce.

With experience back home, he decided to turn his hand to farming in New Zealand.

Industry training

Arun Badesra. Photo / Steve Edwards

Passing the required Ag ITO (Agriculture Industry Training Organisation) qualifications, he became assistant herd manager on another Ngarua farm.

Badesra secured a two-year working visa but his wife back in India could not, so he resigned from the farm job and returned home.

The couple was eventually permitted to stay in New Zealand after spending about $10,000 on airfares and visa processing.

After stints on two other farms in the Waikato, Badesra signed up as a contract milker with Kalma three years ago.

He said the migrant visa rules needed to be more defined in relation to the qualifications of the applicant and the role for which they are applying.

“You can’t generalise.”

Now in his second season of 50/50 sharemilking on the Kalma property, Badesra said he and his family loved the lifestyle on a New Zealand farm.

“You can be your own boss; it’s a friendly environment and there are opportunities if you are hard-working.”

Kalma said there were good opportunities for wealth creation in the New Zealand dairy industry through herd ownership.

“While farm ownership takes longer than it did historically, it is achievable for motivated individuals.”