| 37 nzdairy DAIRY INDUSTRY AWARDS » Wilfred and Pieter Van Beek Pieter Van Beek with the other winners on stage. “It’s definitely an industry where you can really grow. A big part of it is finding the right employer for you. And it’s a play on words, but just milk the system, take and learn everything you can from it.” Pieter is also working through the Primary ITO’s online dairy farming programme, combining on-farm experience with structured agricultural education. “I’ve completed Level 3, I’m halfway through Level 4 and I want to do the Level 5 as well,” he says. “It’s pretty much like doing an agricultural university diploma, but on farm.” By 18, Pieter had bought his first investment property, and it’s already cash flow positive. But it’s farming that runs in his blood - he grew up on farms, with both parents in the industry and his maternal grandparents before them. “My memories are always of being on the farm. I’ve loved it from as early as I can remember,” he says. “The lifestyle - it’s freedom. Sure, some days you do wish you were in the office with the heat pump, but generally, as long as you’ve got your good weather gear on, it’s not too bad.” His work highlight? A clean cow shed, he says. “Having the cows come through and before you go home making sure the cow shed is really clean and the milk is in the vat. I love the milking from starting to finishing, it’s pretty good.” That love of the land, the animals and the rhythm of farm life has helped shape his strong work ethic. Pieter runs the afternoon milking and fills his days shifting stock, feeding out silage, fencing, herd testing – the lot, really - eager to learn and do things right. “Once your alarm clock goes off, there’s no point in lazing around,” he says. “You’re on the job, so you may as well do a good job.” One challenge he’s learned to manage is lameness – the farm boundaries can mean a decent walk to the milking shed for the cows, and that can be hard on hooves. “We do go to three-two milkings from the first week of March until the end of the season,” he says. “And we do a lot of maintenance to minimise the lameness.”
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