Viliata Junior Fonoti Taulago used to teach hip hop in Christchurch and he still breaks out into dance now and then on the farm he manages in Hawke's Bay.
He grew up a city kid but says farming is in every Samoan's DNA and he hopes he'll inspire more young people of Pacific heritage into agriculture.
Twenty-nine-year-old Junior says hip hop is good for morale and along with fitness training helps him cope with anything life may throw at him.
The "Rural Rise" fitness and well-being sessions he takes at the local community hall aim to help other rural men with their challenges too.
"I'm a dancer, I'm a farmer, I'm a motivator," he says looking out over the 650-hectare farm near Patoka at the foot of the Kaweka Range.
He describes himself "pretty much as green as grass" when he first stepped into farming nearly 11 years ago.
He took Country Life up a steep track to the highest point of the property he's been managing for nearly two years.
"I usually go up and think about things on the farm and make plans but also just ... reflect on life, just how far I've come and where I came from."
Junior at the top of the farm he manages in Hawke's Bay. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Junior grew up in Christchurch where he studied briefly to be a social worker and taught hip hop.
"I could say I was probably the biggest city kid there was really. I didn't want to get my hands dirty, that's for sure.
"Didn't want to wear gumboots because I didn't think it looked cool."
His very early years were spent in Samoa and he says it was a struggle when he returned to New Zealand not speaking English.
Bullying and devastating earthquakes were among the challenges he faced growing up.
It was an "every man for himself" rush from the university law library building when the big one hit.
"It will always be stuck with me, like something in a movie."
"Mentally and physically it was just draining seeing all the suffering. I don't think it will ever go away."
It made him want to start afresh and move away so he decided to enrol at Taratahi Agricultural College and then worked as a stock manager in Wairarapa before stepping up to the farm manager role at Patoka, with the backing of his wife, Frankie.
"It wasn't till I l had a look at the farm, I thought, man, I can actually do this."
Junior keeps his fitness up on the farm using tools like an old tractor tyre and motivating other men at his Rural Rise sessions at Patoka Community Hall Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Junior relishes the outdoor life now and works alongside the farm owner soaking up her calf-rearing knowledge.
Six hundred stud sheep, 120 mixed-age cows, trade lambs in summer and 300 grazing heifers also keep him busy.
He says he wants people to get the mindset that if they set themselves goals, they can achieve. He's now working towards an equity partnership.
"It has to be hard work. We have to suffer to get the rewards."
Junior hopes to inspire other young people into farming including those of Pacific Island heritage.
"It's in our DNA.
"If we incorporate that side of us into farming, man, it's just going to take off."
