Dairy farming
Dairy Farming has been part of New Zealand’s proud farming history and gets better all the time, thanks to innovation and technology.
As the world’s biggest exporter of dairy products, New Zealand process 21 billion litres of milk each year. New Zealand’s quality products are in demand thanks to the country's productive land, healthy livestock, and smart, switched-on farmers and other rural professionals.
Job overview
From starting as a farm assistant, through to contract milking, managing or owning/operating a dairy farm, there are on-job qualifications and industry growth opportunities to support a successful life-long career.
Skills and experience
- Physically fit – dairy farm work can be physically demanding
- Confident and caring with animals
- Patient, adaptable, and practical
- Motivated
- Able to follow a routine
- Able to show initiative and make decisions
- Well organised, goal-focused, and able to think ahead
- Able to work well independently and in a team
- Good at communicating.
News from our learners and employers
In a small rural community in North Hokianga, school students are learning practical skills and gaining valuable farming experience through the Primary ITO Gateway programme.
On the rolling Canterbury plains near Methven, the third and fourth generation of the Molloy family are working the land and growing the knowledge of their dairy farm staff with Primary ITO.
Primary ITO vehicle and chainsaw micro-credentials are now available for self-employed owner-operators and people working in industries not related to the primary sector.
Primary ITO learners and graduates featured strongly at the 2025 Young Horticulturalist of the Year Competition in Auckland on 6 November, with Canterbury nursery manager Jake Linklater winning the supreme title.