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Looking outwards in order to look in

As a skilled dairy farmer and an ex-bank manager for the National Bank, Clint Gulliver has experience on both sides of the fence. He’s spent many years in the agricultural industry, gaining a Bachelor of Commerce from Lincoln University and holding positions on the Young Farmer and National Fieldays Society boards. Now as an agribusiness consultant for AgFirst Waikato, Clint puts his industry knowledge to good use, helping local dairy farmers get the best out of their farm businesses.One ...

Planning for uncertainty

It was always Trevor Cook’s intention to complete an agricultural science degree and head back home to run the family farm, but the call of a vet degree was strong.These days, Trevor is a rural consultant based in Fielding, and his veterinary degree comes in handy, weaving an animal health focus into his consulting. It is just one aspect of farming, which Trevor says is becoming increasingly complex and volatile.Changes to regulations and the political landscape affect farmers in many ways, bu...

Farming into the future with FARMAX

Phil Journeaux is an agricultural specialist who has dedicated his life to working in the industry, including 35 years with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.Now, as a rural consultant and agricultural economist for AgFirst Waikato, he specialises in supporting farmers with farm business planning and decisions – particularly pertaining to environmental management and sustainability.There is an increasing focus from the New Zealand government – as well as businesses and consumers – o...

FARMAX Accreditation brings greater clarity

Angela Tanner, consultant at BakerAg in Masterton, had been using FARMAX for a couple of years before she embarked on the Bronze Accreditation. A few years after that, she decided to formalise her skills and quickly progressed to Silver and then Elite.After successfully completing all the accreditation levels, Angela has more confidence when using FARMAX and, specifically, greater clarity when building farm models.“Becoming accredited gave me the ability to identify the strengths and...

FARMAX Accreditation leads to more valuable on-farm discussions

The FARMAX Accreditation programme has been running for five years now, with dozens of agricultural professionals partaking to enhance and test their FARMAX skills across three levels: Bronze, Silver and Elite.We’ve created the programme alongside consultants which helps us ensure that the accreditation is as straightforward and valuable as possible.One of our Elite Accredited consultants, Sandy Campbell, AgSupport lead at AgDesign, appreciates that the whole accreditation programme is broken ...

Creating a farm fit for family, finances and the future

On the east coast of the North Island, slightly northwest of Napier lies Te Hau Station, 285.3 hectares of flat to rolling land owned by Patrick and Isabelle Crawshaw.The young couple are each only 25 years old, with Isabelle from the city and Patrick having plenty of farming experience growing up on the family’sKenhardt Angus stud and being a finalist in the Young Farmer competition. In addition to owning and running the farm by themselves, Isabelle runs an events business and Patrick works p...

Profound results for Action Group focused on benchmarking and lifting performance

“Rather than regularly bringing subject matter experts in, our members opted to put their resources into the use of FARMAX. It has worked very well for them. There is so much horsepower in this group. The group has used its RMPP funding and they have decided to continue with the group and are now funding it themselves.”Group member Matt Buckley, who farms sheep, beef, and dairy, across five units and a total of 2,400 ha at Te Kuiti, says the impact of the group on his farm business has been ...

A resilient drystock farm in a piece of paradise

The Avery family is well known in agricultural communities in New Zealand for their positive, pragmatic and successful approach to farming through adversity. Doug and Wendy Avery run Resilient Farmer, comprising of books, workshops and seminars detailing their own journey battling the black dog, tough climatic conditions and industry regulations, whilst inspiring other farmers to grow the right mindset to run successful farms and healthy lives.Their son Fraser Avery now runs the family farm Bona...

Getting back in the game and coming home to the farm

Waikato dairy farmer Wayne Dickey came home to manage his family’s 90 hectare Manawaru dairy farm in 2010 after working as a builder for 18 years.It wasn’t the easiest transition having been ‘out of the game’ for a while, but four years on, Wayne is now the third generation Dickey to farm the land.Wayne said that while there is a lot to learn from family who have gone before him, it’s definitely not business as usual on the pretty farm nestled in the lush pastures beneath Mount Te Aroh...

FARMAX Accreditation leads to in-depth investigation

Laura Bunning is a farm systems consultant at Water Strategies based in Rangiora. Her role is all about supporting farmers, businesses and local government to protect their land and water and future-proof these assets.Being a FARMAX Elite Accredited Consultant certainly helps when it comes to getting a holistic picture of each farm and figuring out potential future pathways.Laura asserts that being Elite Accredited has been hugely beneficial, as it not only deepened her understanding of FARMAX b...

FARMAX contributes to sheep and beef business growth

For more than 100 years the Buddo family have run sheep and beef at Poukawa, south of Hastings at Kinburn Farm - profiting from quality soils and an intimate knowledge of summer dry farmingSince his great grandfather bought 232ha in 1912, Rob Buddo and his family have increased the farming business to its current 825 hectares (effective), wintering 13,000 hoggets and 900 cattle over five blocks, including three full-time staff.Growing the farmLooking back only six or seven years ago and Kinburn ...

Winning combination for continuous improvement

Putaruru dairy farmer Martin Bennett has been farming for 37 years. The Bennetts’ South Waikato farm comprises 128 effective hectares milking 390 cows producing 160,000kgMS per year.The farm employs a contract milker which is just as well because Bennett is also a farm consultant to seven dairy farmers located throughout the greater Waikato region. Bennett started consulting around four years ago when he was able to step back from some of the day-to-day responsibilities of his own farm.With mo...

Putting a farm on paper

AgResearch scientist Ronaldo Vibart is part of the organisation’s ‘Land and Environment’ group and works in a team called ‘Sustainable land use and global change.’The scientists in his group work across a number of disciplines including soil and land use, nutrient management, water quality, greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation, climate changes and adaptation, and environmental foot printing.“We analyse pastoral land use and land management in relation to environmental impacts and ...