Lucy Verwaayen

Farming feels like home for me. I grew up on my parents’ dairy farm outside of Dannevirke and that life is all I’ve known. When I was a kid, I would tag along with Mum to feed the calves or go feed out with Dad. I have always loved animals and I have a wee zoo at the “home farm” – that’s what I call my parents’ place. The two Highland cows and three goats provide some quality entertainment.

I like to be organised and would love to have a plan for what I’m going to do in life, but that’s yet to happen. I have a degree in animal science from Massey University, trained as an artificial breeding tech for LIC, went overseas and worked on a dairy farm in Holland for two months and I worked on LIC’s bull farm for a year. I really do think it’s OK for people in their twenties to not have a “proper adult” plan. You never know what's around the corner, so you just have to learn to take it as it comes. Mum has a saying, “Good luck, bad luck; who knows?” When something seems crappy at the time, it might open up a door to something new. It gives me comfort and makes me laugh knowing no one really knows what they're doing – we're all just winging it in some way.

I’m currently contract milking 240 cows close to Dannevirke. This farm is very homely to me. It’s actually next to my old primary school, and I remember doing cross-country over it. I was doing the milking together with my partner until recently, but now I work here on my own with some help from the owner. I am not one for blowing my own trumpet, but I do feel proud of myself. I’ve always said I would never want to run a farm, but it’s funny how things can change. I love being outside with the animals and, yes, when it's raining and muddy it’s not as fun, but I’d go nuts doing anything else.