A new dairy apprenticeship scheme has been launched to improve the calibre of people in the industry.

A new dairy apprenticeship scheme aims to get the country's best and brightest people onto farms and lift the level of quality of workers in the industry.

The programme was developed by Federated Farmers and PrimaryITO and launched in Hamilton on October 2.

Federated Farmers Dairy group chairman Chris Lewis said a three-year programme had been designed with Primary ITO to reflect the needs of farmers and employees. The first year would be a pilot of the scheme and would take place in the country's main dairy regions.

Students would start the scheme in entry level positions such as a dairy assistant with the goal of turning them into competent herd managers. "After three years we want them to be a great herd manager."

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Some of the more talented students may even leapfrog to a farm manager's position and from there, transition to sharemilking, he said.

"Hopefully some of them will be the farm owners of the future."

While the apprenticeship is designed for three years, applicants learned at their own speed. They earned while they learned and grew their skills on the job, Lewis said.

"We are not an employment scheme, but we will help people along the way looking for employment."

On the employer side, Federated Farmers would identify employers equipped to offer a quality work environment and support the on-job training and development of apprentices.

A farm charter had also been created, which employers and employees had to follow. This would also provide oversight for the programme.

The charter had conditions such as providing a supportive and satisfying working environment, fully compliant employment agreements with staff including keeping time and wage records ad well as a fully functional health and safety system.

Apprenticeship education was supported by PrimaryITO and employees earn credits for completing core skills such as fencing, animal health and dairy hygiene.

The scheme was open to any dairy farm employers who employed staff, including sharemilkers.

"We want to make sure that dairy farming is an attractive rewarding career for everyone," Lewis said.

"We want people, when they leave the scheme after three years to have an apprenticeship certificate on their CV, they have completed some skilled training and it will be recognised by employers out there."

Primary ITO recruited the apprentices and arranged the formal training towards the NZQA-recognised qualifications. They would also support the apprenticeship through regular farm visits to ensure everything is on-track, providing extra assistance as needed.

Apprenticeships are the best way for employees to get skills and they put them on a pathway for career success, Primary ITO chief executive Dr Linda Sissons said.

She called it a "premium pathway" for people who want to gain a workplace qualification in the dairy industry.

"It's going to be a fabulous opportunity for a whole lot of young people."

Career development was also a focus of the apprenticeship.

"We want our apprentices to grow their careers and to put them on the track to leadership through clearly identified pathways and support. We have ambitious aims for them - we want them to become farm managers and owners one day."

Sissons said the federation deserved credit for creating the programme. It had a goal of producing 200 apprentices in 12 months time.

"That's huge and that shows that Federated Farmers want to quickly grow a skilled workforce."

"We are there to support them, to recruit the young people and organise their training."

It would also reduce the dairy industry's reliance on migrant labour and help reach future growth targets. The Ministry for Primary Industries estimated New Zealand would need an extra 50,000 qualified workers in the primary sector in the next eight years.

It was hoped in the future the scheme would be expanded to include the drystock sector.