Farm Assistant | 60-Bale Rotary | Great Team | 800 Cows | Rukuhia
No dairy experience? No problem. Keen to learn, work hard and be part of a good team? We want to hear from you…
Six17 Limited is looking for a Farm Assistant to join our crew on an 800-cow dairy farm just 10 minutes from Hamilton and 20 minutes from Te Awamutu. If you’re finishing school, thinking about a gap year or just want a job where you’re outdoors, active and actually learning real skills, this could be a great place to start.
What’s the farm like?
It’s a modern set-up: 240 hectares, milking 800 cows through a 60-bail rotary fitted with ACRs and the Afimilk system, which tracks each cow’s health and production. You’ll get to see exactly how the farm runs day to day, not just do the jobs but understand why they matter. You won’t be thrown in the deep end. You’ll be trained properly and work alongside people who know what they’re doing and are happy to show you the ropes.
What you’ll actually be doing:
Milking, looking after the cows, feeding out, helping with calf rearing, fencing and general farm jobs: the kind of hands-on work where you can see what you’ve achieved at the end of the day. There’s a system behind everything on this farm, so once you know the routine, you’ll understand exactly what needs doing and when.
What we’re looking for:
• You show up, work hard and can be relied on. That’s honestly the biggest thing.
• A good attitude: happy to muck in, help your mates out and be part of the team.
• Common sense and the ability to work things out. Once you’re trained, we trust you to think on your feet and solve small problems yourself.
• You’re keen to learn and build real, useful skills (this kind of experience looks great on a CV no matter what you do long term).
You don’t need farming experience to apply. If you’ve got the right attitude and are willing to learn, we’ll teach you the rest, including how the systems on this farm work and why we do things a certain way.
Good to know:
• Free accommodation is often part of these roles on farms. Check with us for details.
• Whether you’re wanting a long-term job or you’re travelling around NZ for a while, if dairy farming interests you, get in touch.
• You must already have the legal right to work in New Zealand (we can’t sponsor visas for this role).
Keen? Apply now. Email [email protected] with a bit about yourself, your CV and two people who can vouch for you (a coach, teacher or previous boss all count).
Cameron and Nicola van Dorsten have Six17 Limited which is an equity partner in a 115ha (effective) farm in Pokuru. For the 2026/27 season they have employed their Herd Manager as a Contract Milker and moving off farm to go Lower-Order Sharemilking on O’Regan Road, 234ha farm milking 800 cows.
Both farms are run as a System 3-4 producing 475-490 KgMS/Cow.
We are very invested in employing great staff and driving their knowledge to progress them through their careers.
2019 Sharefarmer winners for Otago/Southland Dairy Industry Awards, we solidified our hard work, by entering the awards and used it as a tool to sharpen our business. We have been involved with the program for 4 years on a committee front and truely believe in the awards programme.