Chihiro Hanyuda moved to New Zealand from Japan with dreams of becoming a farmer. Photo: Supplied
Imagine a love for cows that pulled you 10,000 kilometres down to the bottom of the world.
For Chihiro Hanyuda, that is her reality. The 27-year-old travelled to New Zealand seven years ago with nothing more than a dream of becoming a farmer.
Now with three seasons of muck, milk and moos under her belt, Hanyuda has won this year's Bay of Plenty Dairy Manager of the Year title.
"I always wanted to be a dairy farmer growing up. I looked at being a farmer over there in Japan but I realised it was hard to make a living out of farming."
Hanyuda grew up in a small town in Japan. However, it was not as rural as a similar town in New Zealand. Her father was a tax accountant and her mother trained to assist him when her children grew older.
Hanyuda said she had no idea where her farming dream came from.
"I always liked animals but especially cows. Even in Japan, every time I saw some cows, I would run to them.
"When I first came here, I wanted to be a farmer, but I didn't know what kind of farmer I wanted to be. And I just happened to run into a dairy farmer and I got hooked."
That farmer gave Hanyuda her first taste of farming, teaching her the basics while studying for a Bachelor of Science at Massey University in Palmerston North.
"I showed up and they were like, 'so what do you want to learn about farming?'
"Because I didn't know anything about farming I just said everything."
Following her degree, Hanyuda got her first job as a dairy assistant in Taupō.
She worked on another farm in the Kaimai Range before applying for a manager's position on Peter Overdevest and Tania Akehurst's 148-hectare Galatea farm, milking 379 cows.
Some would say she has made significant progress in the short time, and with the even smaller amount of knowledge she started with, before moving to New Zealand with a dream.
"I was just lucky to meet all those people who gave me the opportunity every time I was looking for a job. Without those people, I wouldn't have got anywhere.
"To be honest, for me, it was always about looking for opportunities because it's easy to get comfortable in one place. But it's harder to get new opportunities that way."
However, Hanyuda admits opportunities did not fall into her lap.
"Being an Asian and being female, people don't look at me and think 'you're a farmer'. Especially in the past, I found it really hard to even get to the interview when I was applying for jobs.
"I don't know if it was because of my nationality or the fact that I am female, I don't know. But I found it really hard."
The more farms you go to, the more you learn, Hanyuda believes.
It is why her dream does not stop with becoming an award-winning dairy manager.
The big dream is farm ownership.
The cherry on top would be a little farm store where she sells products.
"That was my childhood dream … I want to get there eventually.
"When I first started, I didn't know how to drive a two-wheeler, I couldn't drive a manual. Those are essential skills [for farming]. But I bought a two-wheeler and a cheap manual car to practice," Hanyuda said as a reminder to let nothing get in your way of achieving your dreams.
"If you are serious about your dreams, you can really do anything.
"I know it's hard to put yourself out there, but without doing that, you can't really get anywhere."
