Waikato Business News August/September 2020

18 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS August/September 2020
Training course opens gate for townies
By RICHARD WALKER
A Cambridge firm has come up with an innovative response
to the looming shortfall of workers confronting agricultural
contractors.
With harvesting season
close and borders
largely closed
to the migrant workforce, Ag
Drive has started a training
programme for Waikato people
wanting a start in the industry.
They are taking on trainees
who have lost jobs or been
disrupted by Covid-19, with
the students funded on short
courses by the Social Development
Ministry.
Ag Drive is also offering
private training courses after
contractors expressed a high
level of interest in the scheme,
which may be a first for
New Zealand.
In the past, the industry
has largely brought in
migrants, particularly from
Ireland, Europe and Australia,
to deal with seasonal harvesting,
but with Covid-19
border disruptions Ag Drive’s
offering is timely.
“There’s a massive gap in
that industry at the moment,”
business development manager
Vinette Wilken says. “All the
contractors we go and speak to
say this should have been out
there a long time ago.”
It also represents an
elegant solution for Ag Technology
Group, which established
Ag Drive during lockdown
when its supply of work
from German manufacturer
Claas slowed.
Ag Technology tests and
does R&D on Claas agricultural
machinery including
tractors, in both New
Zealand and Germany on a
seasonal rotation.
Then “Covid happened”,
Wilken says. “We had all these
staff, and normally they would
travel abroad and they couldn’t
because they couldn’t fly out.
So that’s where the idea came
up to start the training side.”
Staff are now working as
Ag Drive tutors while waiting
to head to Germany for the new
season, and the company is
recruiting replacement tutors,
including newly appointed Ag
Drive manager Gareth Wild,
who will be the main classroom
tutor.
The company has also
moved into new Hautapu
premises, which include a
classroom and space for tractors
where trainees get their
first sight of the machines
before putting theory into
practice on a Matangi paddock.
Sponsorship means they have
the latest tractors to train on.
The trainees come from
diverse backgrounds and have
included a pilot and a builder
along with some from office
jobs. They are taken through
everything from safety and
health to road rules and using
attachments, trailers, and the
power take-off shaft. Once
they’re out on the paddock,
they have different farm-related
tasks to complete, as
well as an obstacle course to
manoeuvre the tractor through.
The Ministry-funded course
has been boosted from one
week to two as the company
continues to adapt with a view
to a long-term offering that
goes beyond the demands of
Covid-19.
Intakes so far have varied
between eight and 10 students,
with five tutors. Southern
Institute of Technology has
introduced a similar six-week
course, but Ag Drive general
manager Janine Peters says
they went for a shorter sharper
course because they couldn’t
accommodate huge numbers
for six weeks. “And we didn’t
really have six weeks to get a
number of people out into the
contracting season starting
very soon.”
The courses represent a
foot in the door for graduates
who can then expect further
on-the-job training from the
contractor.
“They’re not going to be
experts by any stretch of the
imagination,” Peters says.
“They’re going to be still at
entry level. But at least they
are aware of all the health and
safety aspects, they know how
to put the implements on and
take them off, they can drive a
tractor, and then the rest of the
learning is going to have to be
on the job.
“We’ve given them [the
Ministry] some good selection
criteria, because it’s a tricky
industry to be in. It’s long
hours, seasonal. It’s not for
everybody.”
Peters says Ag Drive,
because they know the contractors,
are actively working
Practical experience out in the field.
to get graduates placed, with
Wilken saying many are finding
work.
“We’re also trying to
engage with the horticultural
industry because they’re going
to be running into the same
sorts of problems,” Peters says.
“So we’re pivoting as we go.”
At level 2, they are practising
social distancing, and are
putting in plans that they hope
will enable them to continue
operating should the region
face level 3.
AgDrive is not yet NZQA
accredited but has worked
closely with Wintec in setting
up the course.
“They were very helpful,
and they’re still mentoring us
all the way through the process
as well,” Peters says.
She says the Rural Contractors
Association recently
said the coming harvest season
would be short of about 3000
workers, and many of those
will need to be experienced
operators.
“So there’s still going to be
a gap. But we’re hoping that
at least we can help, and perhaps
encourage a whole lot of
New Zealanders into a different
field they’ve never thought
about before.”
It is also possible, she
says, that the course could
become a useful introduction
to New Zealand conditions,
including road rules, once
contractors start arriving from
overseas again.
Business development manager Vinette Wilken.
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