J&D Adolph Ltd

I worked for 2 months on this farm and frankly there is very little to complain about! The supervisors are understanding but may just lack dialogue. The schedules are great to make money quite quickly and for my part I had the accommodation at $12/night (I slept in my car and enjoyed the house for the shower and kitchen) which was clearly interesting! In short, I met great people in a good working environment with a house in which I felt at home☀️🤟🏼

We spends the full season harvesting Kumara and it was one of our best experiences yet. The works is physically and repetitive, you will spend hours on the harvester but it worth it! It’s a farmer jobs so of course you will need 1 or 2 weeks to get use to it. The best thing with that jobs it’s that you can be safe on your pay and your accommodation. They recruit lots of backpackers so you will meet hopefully lovely people and will get troughs this experience with them !

I worked for J&D Adolph during the 2026 kumara season, and I honestly have really good memories from it. The job itself is pretty accessible for farm work. Most of the time you’re standing on a tractor with a conveyor belt in front of you, sorting the kumaras. It can be repetitive, but there are around 8 of you on each machine, so there’s always someone to chat and laugh with, which makes the days go by fast. You can also play music, which really helps keep a good vibe. One of the best things, especially as a backpacker, is that you can work even when it rains, so it’s easy to get a lot of hours. During the season (around 8 weeks), you can do 50–60 hours per week, which is perfect to save money for the rest of your trip. The team is great, supervisors are friendly and easygoing. Thanks to David, the boss, who is kind and flexible. We also had some really nice moments outside of work: beers, pizzas after work, small get-togethers… and even a boat trip for those who wanted to try wakesurfing. It definitely adds something special to the whole experience. For accommodation, there are different options depending on your budget: houses with rooms or the “shed,” which is more basic. The kitchen there is a bit simple, but it does the job, especially if you’re independent or living in a van. Overall, it was a really positive experience. You meet great people, make good memories, and it’s a very good way to save money for what’s next.

The days are long but it's nice for the salary :) we worked under a great sun at the beginning, then the rain came... we were in the mud it was the work on the farm pure and hard. But the bosses let us in if it was a big rain. Regarding the accommodations we had taken the cheapest at $9, it is true that it was quite rustic, with not much at our disposal but it does the trick. The staff is frankly very nice. They are all cool, correct and really not stressful. In addition, we meet a lot of people, with whom we spend most of our time, it's meetings that we don't forget and it's a bit thanks to the taff. I did a full season here, and frankly it was good. It is clearly a company that I recommend if you want to work and put a maximum aside ;)

Overall, I had a great experience working at JD Adolph Kumara. The days can be long, often around 7:30am to 5:30pm, and the work can be muddy, wet, and physical at times, but I found it to be a fair, positive, and memorable place to work. You may also work many weekends, and sometimes you might work a full week with only one day off. That can be tiring, but the positive side is that you are making money while you are there. To be frank, you are there to harvest kumara, so if you are willing to work hard, you can earn good money and play hard later on. The work itself was good. I mainly drove a tractor, which comes with a lot of responsibility, but it was also fun, varied, and sometimes fast-paced. You do need to be careful when driving over the rows, as it is possible to damage the kumara if you are not paying attention. It takes focus and care, especially when the field conditions are wet or muddy. There is also some physical work involved. Picking up the seed bins can be very heavy, and sometimes they need to be lifted at around shoulder height, which could be difficult for some people. At the beginning, I found this challenging, but by the end of my time there I felt stronger and it became more manageable. It is definitely the kind of job where your body adapts if you stick with it. There were times when I personally felt stressed or panicked after making a mistake, but the supervisors always handled things calmly. I never felt afraid to own up to something, report a mistake, or raise an issue with machinery. Noble and Corey were fantastic supervisors and really made the job for me. They were positive, hardworking, calm under pressure, and supportive of the workers. Even when the weather was bad or the days were long, they helped keep morale up. They were also always willing to get stuck in and do the hard work alongside everyone else, which I really respected. Safety was taken seriously. They provided PPE such as gloves and eye protection for dusty conditions, and they were always willing to give workers new gloves when their old ones became damaged or had holes. We also had an issue once with one of the emergency stop buttons, and once it was reported, they did their best to fix it as soon as possible. I appreciated that workers were treated like people, not just as international labour. One thing they could improve is providing drinking water and sunscreen out in the fields, or at least having some available. You need to provide both yourself, and they are important when working outside in the sun with limited shade. The harvesters do have shade, but you are still exposed to the sun during parts of the working day. There were some issues around breaks at the beginning. At first, time spent riding on the harvester or walking back from the field seemed to be counted as part of break time. However, when we raised this and explained that we wanted the full thirty minutes at a proper break area, they listened and did not hassle us about it. That was appreciated. One thing to be aware of is that there are not really proper break areas out in the fields. It helps a lot if you can drive your own car or van to the field so you have somewhere comfortable to sit during breaks, especially when the weather is cold, wet, or windy. It would be nice if there was a more sheltered break area available, and things like a jug or hot drinks would make a big difference on rough weather days. That said, I understand this can be difficult because the fields are remote and the work location changes. The weather is a big part of the job. You will work in the rain many times because the kumara still needs to come out of the ground. If the rain is very heavy or sustained, they do call off work, and in my experience they did think about the safety and warmth of the workers. We also experienced a cyclone while working there, and they were very communicative throughout it. I genuinely felt they were concerned for our wellbeing and wanted us to feel comfortable and safe. Andrea especially went above and beyond during that time. If it rains too much for the harvester machines to run, you may end up picking kumara from the ground after the rows are turned over. This is called scratching. It can be muddy and tiring, so I would strongly recommend buying gumboots and wet weather gear. You can get cheap and reliable rain gear from The Warehouse in town. Bathrooms can be a bit difficult due to the layout of the fields, but they do provide portable loos with long drops and seem to do their best given the circumstances. Accommodation depends on where you stay. Some people living in vans stayed near the shed, which could do with better facilities for backpackers. There was only one shower and bathroom for quite a few people at times, and the area was quite dark in the evenings. We stayed in one of the houses, which was acceptable and generally nice, although it was quite full at times. We did struggle with fridge space, and the space available was not really enough for our needs. We ended up using our own chilly bin/cooler and had to buy salt ice every few days to keep our food cold. We also had an ongoing mouse problem that we could never fully solve. They did put poison around the property, but it did not completely fix the issue. That said, mice are not unique to this farm and are common in many rural parts of New Zealand. Andrea does her best to meet you when you arrive, explain everything, and make sure you understand how things work. She was very welcoming and friendly when we arrived, which helped us settle in. When we were ready to leave, we had to clean the place where we had been staying, and I found Andrea very fair with her assessment of this. My advice to future workers would be to respect the accommodation and leave the house or shed as clean as it was when you arrived, or cleaner. These are working farm properties, and they should be treated with respect. They also allowed us to have our dog with us on the farm while we were travelling, which we really appreciated. This was crucial for us being able to work there, and it made a big difference. I was also applying for jobs while I was working there, and they were very supportive of me attending interviews. They even supported me missing work for an in-person interview. I really appreciated this, and it made me feel like they cared about my future after the farm, not just the work I was doing there. One practical thing to be aware of is that driving out to the fields can be hard on vehicles, and we did experience a few flat tyres. However, I personally saw Corey help one worker by putting her spare tyre on, or doing it while she was working, so she could get to a mechanic more easily after work. David also lent us an air compressor so we could air up our tyres and get into town if we had a puncture. That kind of practical help was appreciated. The area itself is beautiful and feels very New Zealand. The scenery around Dargaville and the surrounding farmland is gorgeous, and you are only about a 15-minute drive from the coastline and some beautiful beaches. The nearest supermarket is in town, and there is also a great local butcher. You can also get mail delivered to the local post office in Dargaville and pick it up there, which is useful if you are travelling. Another positive thing is the social side. It is a really international environment, and you will meet people from many different countries and backgrounds. Some people arrive and only stay for a couple of days, but honestly, I think some people are just not used to this kind of rural work. The job can be wet, muddy, repetitive, physical, and sometimes long, but the work is good, the pay is fair, and the supervisors are positive and supportive. David often came out to the field at the end of weekend work with drinks and a friendly conversation, and he always thanked us for our hard work. He also took everyone out on his boat and wakeboarding one weekend, which was a really cool experience and added to the social side of working there. Andrea was also great. She brought pizza and drinks for everyone one evening and always did her best to respond to any concerns we had. Managing a large group of international workers is not easy, and I was impressed with how she handled it. Overall, I would recommend working here, especially if you are a hard worker, enjoy long days, and want to make decent money. They always paid on time, treated us fairly, and I felt they genuinely tried to manage both the business and the worker experience well. My advice to future workers would be: bring gumboots, bring wet weather gear, bring sunscreen, bring plenty of drinking water, work hard, communicate clearly, respect the accommodation, take care when driving machinery, and do not be afraid to speak up if you need something. If possible, having your own car or van is crucial because it gives you somewhere better to take breaks and makes life easier outside of work. You may occasionally get some pushback, but in my experience they were good people, fair employers, and they cared about doing things properly. Thank you to everyone on the farm for the experience. I wish you all the best for the future.

Severa few accommodations available, the $9 one is a little underequipped. The work is not easy but good for the duration. At the back of a tractor with no heavy loads to carry. From time to time by hand but only in case of heavy rain. You can work even in the rain, perfect to earn money and if the rain is too heavy you can come back. The bosses are cool except one boss. David is cool, we can talk without barriers and invite him to the evening. I recommend the job.

Horrible workplace. Was hired as a tractor driver and ended up pulling weeds and bulding bins all day. Left after two weeks. They’ve got cameras everywhere and we got in trouble for having a friend (also working there but staying in his van) over one night. Refused to pay us when we left we had to contact fair work. Run!

We came here a couple weeks ago and started working right away the day after we arrived. The accommodation "The Shed" has basic necessities in terms of shower, toilets and shared space there’s 2 fridges, 1 kettle but nothing else for cooking. The work itself is pretty straightforward, get on a harvester, if the field is dry enough ofc, clean the kumaras that get on the conveyer belt or manage the bin behind. On the other hand, if you’re by hand, which is pretty much 50% of the time since the Cyclone, you just pick kumaras straight from the ground. It is repetitive and quite boring but days go fast. The pay is rather decent, the owner David is really chill and kind, tbh you can’t get any better than him. Accommodation needs some work bc it’s way too "Warehousey", can’t cook inside and blablabla but still enough!

Funny that this is the company that made you guys make this website. Worked here during previous harvest and agree with previous review. We had to work 11 days in a row, through cyclone warnings and heavy rain, even when all tractors got stuck because of the mud we had to hand pick the kumaras! The boss lady is terrible but the supervisors were amazing people. Shed acc is okay for vanlife, 2 houses are good, the house at Te Kopuru is terrible. I have met multiple backpackers that worked here and one told me that during planting, 12 people left in one day. I would reccomend a kumara harvest job, but not at this company.

The pay was the minimum but this is ok Great working team But the bosses are the worst I ever Jad to work with, for no reason they can hate you and making you live a nightmare (that was my case) They are also always trying to win minutes of work on breaks, in the contract says no work under heavy rain or on week ends but it ends like 6 days working a week and no stop under heavy rain. Always looping over your shoulder about what you’re doing and put a lot of pressure for nothing. My 3rd job in NZ and by far the worst one, I would recommend no one to go there.