He owns and operates Chancarla Farm Park, in Dunedin, which offers people tours to allow them to meet and feed a range of animals, including sheep, pigs, chickens, goats, donkeys, deer and miniature horses.
Misconceptions about breeds, sexes and which animals produce what products were common, he said.
"That's townies for you."
He believes a growing number of urban people have no connection with the country and the animals reared on farms.
"The only chance to get to see animals is at 100 miles an hour out the window of a car."
And it was not just children who were struggling.
Mr Pollock had asked adults if they knew "where milk comes from", to which they had replied "out of a bottle" - while standing right next to a cow.
"There are so many townies who have no idea.
''It's a shame really."
The "biggest problem" these days was most people did not have a relative with a farm, meaning it was difficult to learn about the lifestyle and the production of food.
Federated Farmers shared the same view, spurring the organisation to launch an initiative to improve people's knowledge about farming.
It hoped to get at least 24 farms throughout the country to open their gates to the public on March 1 next year, to offer demonstrations of farming.
National president Don Nicholson sees it as a way to bridge the "growing disconnection" between urban and rural people.
"We see a need to open our gates so urban people can come and have a look because a lot of New Zealanders have never been near a farm and do not have a clue how a farm operates," he said.
"It is about reconnecting people with the food producers of the world."
