That’s because Canterbury-based agronomy specialist Scott McIlroy actually started his working life as a baker, a job he loved "every single minute of".
And he can still pull on his apron.
After the Canterbury earthquakes, when his old boss at Darfield Bakery was struggling with power outages and staffing, he rolled up his sleeves and helped out for a couple of days.
Scott acknowledges he never thrived in the education system — "me and school probably didn’t see eye-to-eye to be fair" — but what he did have was a work ethic and enthusiasm for what he enjoyed doing.
He had been working at the bakery after-school cleaning up when he suggested the boss give him a baker apprenticeship. He was there for about five years and qualified as a baker.
Mad keen on rugby — he played his first game for Darfield at 5 and later racked up 251 division 1 games for the club — he would burn the candle at both ends; up at 2am to go baking, then play rugby before the post-game socialising sometimes until the early hours.
He spent two years on his OE, where he did some baking, played rugby and travelled the world.
Returning home, he got a job in the CRT (now Farmlands store) store in Dunedin and later a move to the Darfield store, having always had a passion for farming and the rural services industry.
He did a lot of listening and learning and, when his very experienced boss sadly died at work one day, he was told he was "it" — "I was either going to sink or swim" — and he worked hard to establish what he needed to do to service clients.
In 2015, Scott joined Hazlett which, at that stage, did not have an agronomy arm. That division was created "out of nothing" and the company now had about seven agronomy reps on the road and it was "doing very well".
Scott’s nomination said he "goes above and beyond for his farming clients, making sure they have everything they need to operate their businesses to the best of their ability".
In spring, it was not unusual for him to leave home at 6am and finish his day with zero emails in his inbox at 10pm or 11pm. Family was important to him — he and his wife Lauren have two children, Ella and Jed — and he would head into his office after they went to bed.
While his work life was busy, that did not stop him from putting his hand up in his local community. He is on the board of trustees at Sheffield School.
Now strapping for the Darfield senior rugby side, he spent about 12 years on the committee and was president for two years. He also did the Coast to Coast teams event with his twin brother.
Asked how he managed his own wellbeing, Scott said his work kept him in check.
He enjoyed going to work "every single day" and it was almost not really a job for him. He got to talk to and help great people and that was something that kept him fresh and motivated, he said.
Rural folk were "pretty well grounded" and they understood he was not a magician — if he was, he could change the weather and interest rates — but what he could do was make sure that what he did was to the best of his ability and that might mean they could get a better price for their product or increase their yield. Sometimes it was about providing a reassuring ear and he was well aware of how difficult it was farming.
He was also involved with the social side of work, organising cricket games and a few beers, saying it was "good to get together and laugh".
