Foundations in Farming at Coleridge Downs

Coleridge Downs, in the Rakaia Gorge of Central Canterbury, offers stunning scenery to offset the rigorous, hands-on training for school leavers. This 9,000-hectare farm over four stations is set in some of New Zealand’s most dramatic landscapes, providing two years of on-farm training for eight eager cadets.

Hard-Yards Training

The farm cadet program annually accepts four new first-year cadets, fresh from high school, to run the farm and 42,000 stock units alongside four second-year cadets.  They make up the main workforce responsible for the sheep, beef, and deer, with no additional shepherds to fall back on.

After attending the annual farm open day held in July, 40-50 students apply each year, hopeful to make the cut. They know that the opportunity to gain practical on-farm training as well as qualifications, their Level 3 and 4 Primary ITO, is rare.

“Part of the attraction is that we’re a reasonably modern farming business and farming at scale – that integration of technology and making sure we set them up well into the future is important to a lot of them, as well as those traditional values of stockmanship and pasture management,” says Operations Manager, Charlie Johns.

 

 

Students learn “basically everything you’d expect a junior shepherd to know when they show up.” This includes a grounding in stockmanship, pasture management, animal health treatments and feed budgeting as well as practical training in mustering, shearing, tractor work, fencing and dog training.

Primed for Success

Upon arrival new recruits are given their very own heading pup and gain a huntaway during their residence too, often leaving with three or four dogs they have trained themselves.

The cadets are not expected to succeed on their own. The dozen full-time staff are there to train and support students. Training manager, Kirsten ‘Camp Mother’ O’Callaghan, acknowledges a huge part of the success of the program is the pastoral care – the students cannot succeed unless they are looked after.

“Kristin’s really passionate about young people,” says Charlie. “All our managers and senior staff have a passion in progressing and teaching people. It’s fundamental to the job.”

From Coleridge to Caberfeidh

Two hours south of Coleridge Downs is graduate Carey Pawson-Edwards, now at Caberfeidh, part of Lone Star Farms. The program gave him a solid foundation for his career, “you’re ready to hit the ground running. You learn a lot of life skills, organising people, organising gear, just being a good genuine person really, it’s drilled into you the whole time.”

 

 

Carey’s interest in farming started at age 12. Already keen on motorbiking, his school holidays were spent lending a hand on his uncle’s farm near Christchurch. When it came time to choose a career path, farming was the obvious choice. The Coleridge Downs cadetship stood out as providing the training he needed without being stuck in a classroom every day.

He reflects on the 34 graduates of the program, now with well-established ag careers, “you see them in the industry, they’re striving ahead, which is pretty cool to see.”

The work is rewarding too. Carey feels fortunate to be out on the land, growing animals from paddock to plate.

“Out there on the land growing animals, seeing them go from being born to going on the truck, to then talking to the chef who’s serving at the restaurant. Chef comes up to you and thanks you on how good a product it is. I mean, you can’t really beat that,” he grins.

 

Extreme Conditions

Coleridge Downs is made up of four stations: Dry Acheron, Big Ben, Annavale and Coleridge Downs. The land ranges from flat terrain to steeper hill country and is home to Headwaters sheep, Angus cattle and deer which are Red Hinds crossed with Wapiti.

With big open skies and epic mountain ranges, the views are a perk of the job. But Charlie warns new recruits, it’s no paradise.

“It's a challenging and extreme place to farm, we have short growing seasons, regular snowfalls during the winter, we dry out at the drop of the hat. [But] part of that challenge is why you do it – overcoming those challenges and working with what we have got.”

 

Plunkett’s Passion Project

The cadetship program at Coleridge Downs started as a passion project for Tony Plunkett, a local farmer who struggled to find a training program for his two sons. It so happened that a friend of his was looking to start up a cadetship in the South Island, so Tony became involved. The Erdman family, who have owned Coleridge Downs since 1994, were eager to invest in and support the program. With Tony’s passion and the Erdman family's support, the Cadet training program was born.  

In the decade since, the Coleridge Downs Cadetship Program has kickstarted successful careers for dozens of young farmers.

Tony Plunkett, founder of Coleridge Downs Cadetship Program, passed away on January 12, 2025. His passion and contribution to his community and agriculture will be missed. The cadetship program continues this legacy in his memory.