Kids Help Run Rare Breed Farm in NZ

Are parents today really doing enough to teach their kids day-to-day basics like cooking, cleaning or tending to the land?

For 15-year-old Samuel and his 13-year-old sister Ila, they dont think so.

For this pair the Playstation just isnt a reality. They spend all their free time helping their parents operate an Organic Rare Breeds farm in New Zealands hill country of Taranaki.

The pair tends to over several hundred rare breed animals, including Devon and Wessex pigs, Nubian goats and Demara, Dorset Horn and Wiltshire horned sheep.

Parents John and Ruth are confident that if they werent around the pair is capable enough to run the farm without them.

[John Earney, Farmer]:
"We're trying to set them up for the future. I'd like to think that if they were wrecked on a desert island they would come off as good as they went on."

It all began when the kids started crawling. They ventured out into the farmyard, then once they could walk John had them helping with the gates. Today, their knowledge of farming would surpass any farmer in the district.

But to be fair, the farm brings its challenges to the young ones. Even in the countryside theres no shortage of drama.

[Sam Earney, Young Farmer]:
Vehicles getting stuck. Cows going natal, cut yourself, get hit in the head.

But Samuel and Ila have realized these hardships have helped to shape their life.

[Sam Earney, Young Farmer]:
"The only way to learn it is by making mistakes.

John and Ruth understand that if children are taught the right things and given a wholesome upbringing they can do really well.

[John Earney, Farmer]:
They are very valuable. Young people are very valuable. I think we underestimate what young people can do.

A little hard work goes a long way at least in the Earney household. Not only is it good for the childrens development but also lays tracks to a healthy future.

Gina Shakespeare, NTD, Taranaki, New Zealand

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• NTD
• NTDTV
• New Zealand
• Farming
• Education
• Teaching
• Cooking
• Cleaning
• Land
• Organic Rare Breeds farm
• Taranaki
• Animals
• Devon
• Wessex
• pigs
• Nubian goats
• Demera
• Dorset Horn
• Wiltshire horend sheep

[annacrawford10]

Aww little Ila haha.