The summer of 2012 provided a watershed moment for Claire and Liam Guiney. Farming on extremely heavy soils in Newtownshandrum, Co Cork, the very wet summer of that year made up their mind about emigrating to New Zealand.

Prior to this, Liam was milking 100 cows on peaty soils and Claire was working full-time in the local credit union. With three young children, life was busy.

“We were always rushing and racing and while we were comfortable financially, we both felt that there was more to be got out of life than working all around the clock and not spending enough time with our children,” says Claire.

Liam says he always dreamed about owning a large dry farm, but with opportunities in Ireland extremely limited, he had more or less given up on the dream.

It wasn’t until in 2009, when Liam and Claire first went to New Zealand to visit Liam’s brother Kieran, who moved to New Zealand with his wife Leonie in the mid-2000s, that the thought of moving to New Zealand first crossed their mind.

However, the timing in 2009 just wasn’t right. But the couple visited again in autumn 2012, and after seeing the lifestyle and home, not to mention hugely successful farming business that Kieran and Leonie had built for themselves in Fairlie, north of Canterbury, they went home full of ideas.

“We couldn’t stop thinking about the blue skies and mountains, but still, making the decision to leave was extremely difficult. Leaving behind family and friends and taking the children out of school was hard,” says Claire.

In June 2013, Liam sold his 100 cows and the whole family moved out to the South Island just in time for the New Zealand calving season, which starts in July. Liam and Claire were going to be contract milkers on a farm belonging to Kieran and Leonie.

Contract milking is where the contractor, in this case Claire and Liam, receives a fixed price for every kilogramme of milk solids produced. In return, they need to provide all of the labour and management required to run the farm.

This year, they are milking just short of 800 cows and they have three full-time staff.

“The typical day involves getting up at 4.30am, one person goes for the cows while the other gets the parlour ready. We have an hour for breakfast, then we do some work around the farm, such as grubbing weeds or fencing repairs. We have an hour for lunch and then start milking again after lunch. Normally, we finish up at 4.30pm and have the evening to ourselves,” Liam says.

Long-term, Claire and Liam hope to be farm owners in New Zealand. But they must first get residency in New Zealand and sell the farm at home. It is currently on the market.

Liam, Claire and the family are delighted with the move.

“Our lives have changed for the better. We are so much closer to our children and to ourselves. The children are all sports mad and they just love the New Zealand way of life and have settled in really well,” Liam says.