Time outSIDE

The South Island Dairy Event - SIDE

'tis the season, day rather, for

Time outSIDE

See we have a bunch of dairy industry events all with SIDE

somehow in the event name and

this week it was the annual Time outSIDE

One day, just one day especially for those in their

first five years of their careers in on-farm dairying.

that's gobblely gook to you isn't it?

Here's the deal,

a Kawasaki ATV for $6999 including GST

haha not that deal, though it is a good one if you thrash ATVs

and go through one every three years,

that piece of advice is for free.

So the deal is...

There is next to no training for those who want straight forward farm work.

The training that there is great.

It's from the AgITO or from farmer levy organisations like DairyNZ

so if you choose not to attend pasture plus or the like

there aren't many options but to learn from your very busy on-farm boss

and even then the rule of thumb is the right way is the farmer's way

that may not be the best way nor will you have the whys and wherefores explained.

These guys are learning about why you herd test

I didn't attend this session so I still don't know why you herd test

I could probably guess though

but you tell me why you need to herd test your cows....

or what herd testing is at all if you would prefer....

Anyway Time outSIDE has five sessions of which herd testing was one.

Tug of war is not a session

but that's what we did at lunchtime,

including me but I'm not in that photo

and my team lost.

Tug of war is really hard,

could be my soft, inside person hands.

CRT Leeston did the lunch BBQ

and very nice it was too

In NZ BBQ is just a sausage on a grill with grilled onions on white bread with tomato sauce,

it hits the spot, repeatedly.

Excuse me for a minute

some chick on American Idol is singing one of my favourite songs

Wicked Game

(don't you know it Ngaire)

......
ok she should have chosen something else, it was very karaoke

So for me Time outSIDE this year was different

because it's my first time I've worked on it as a volunteer.

One thing I love about rural communities is that they really understand about volunteering

and they know that if it's going to be, it's up to me, or them.

Which is why the next evening only four people turned up on our Leeston Envirotown meeting but that's ok really cause we just talked about Earth Hour and what we are doing which will be turning out our lights for an hour on a Saturday night.

Hardly a peek electricity usage period.

That's an argument for another night.