Christian View By Michael H. Oliver  February 4, 2012

The traditional arable family farm more often than not these days has been converted into a dairy platform and worked by people from other cultures.

Milking cows is demanding and with more than four thousand quarters and four thousand feet you can be delivered a mighty headache when things aren’t right.
As we have serviced dairy sheds for the past few years we have noted the stress levels on people as they doctor up to 100 cows in their lame and mastitis herds, problems exaggerated by pulsation faults which can adversely affect as many as 30 cows every day.
We understand some of the different pressures faced by owners and workers alike in the dairy industry and have for some time been concerned about the on-farm a social disconnect. Self-harm in this area is a very real threat, though less than Taranaki with 17 deaths.
We have assisted individuals in this area and provided on-going support and lobbied government and Federated Farmers making them aware of similarities to other recessions. Tragically, it seems we missed a few others in the past two years.
Workers often don’t have the time and knowledge needed for many things seemingly ordinary to the rest of us and it can end up costing them dearly. This situation is quite unacceptable and as a community care group we feel the need to do something about it.
A small group of us have developed an initiative to provide frontline support, networking with farmers and related rural employers. This style of workplace visiting has been functioning for many years through chaplaincy programmes.
We have been led to shift our other half-time income status from servicing milking plant to on-farm worker support in the Mid Canterbury region. We have branded this service “ManUp,” which encompasses the notion of lifting individuals who are down and facing up to the tough issues.
In the past we have assisted farm workers needing help to understand how we do things in this country such as NZQA papers, driver’s licences and residency applications, etc.
The vision of “ManUp” is to be the first point of contact, identifying issues and making referral to qualified professionals.
Professional help may come from Presbyterian Support, Agricultural Training Organisations, but also community recreational, cultural and service groups.
“ManUp” is being set up on a business basis to enable owners to better care for their carers. For further information please feel free to contact the office, Ph 03 303-6177.

Michael H. Oliver is with the  Mayfield Parish (PCANZ)