Kiwi to lead GEA in Australasia
International farming equipment company GEA Farm Technologies has appointed New Zealand managing director Jamie Mikkelson to the role of vice-president, area Australasia.
GEA FARM Technologies has appointed New Zealand managing director Jamie Mikkelson vice president area Australasia. He will head sales and operations in New Zealand and Australia, and remain MD in New Zealand.
GEA Farm Technologies is owned by the GEA Group, in 2012 earning EUR $5.7 billion.
Mikkelson (40) was born in Matamata and has spent most of his life in Waikato. For 20 years he has worked at Milfos, Hamilton, where he helped grow the business from a start-up, alongside its founder, the late Philip Locke. Mikkelson was a shareholder and the managing director of Milfos when Locke died last year.
When GEA Farm Technologies bought Milfos in late 2012, Mikkelson became managing director of its New Zealand operations. He is now one of eight global VPs, responsible for sales and performance of 190 employees and 50 service partners.
Mikkelson says the acquisition of Milfos by GEA completed the companies offering of a ‘total solutions provider’ for pastoral dairy farmers. New Zealand is being positioned by GEA as a ‘world hub’ for pastoral farming.
He says business is about people first and products second. “My role is aligning people and the business to a common strategy and helping them deliver on that strategy.”
The challenge of managing Australia was not dissimilar to the challenges of managing the differences between farming in, for example, the North and South Islands.
“While New Zealand and Australia are similar, they are also very different – I don’t expect to take a NZ approach in Australia and likewise what works in Tasmania will not necessarily work in New South Wales. It’s about understanding in real detail the drivers, challenges and where we can add value,” says Mikkelson.
Ownership by GEA Group allows for products made in New Zealand, such as FIL and Milfos, to be marketed elsewhere in the world.
In New Zealand GEA Farm Technologies owns and markets milking machine and farm management equipment from Milfos and WestfaliaSurge, dairy hygiene and animal health supplies from FIL, effluent handling equipment from Houle and barn equipment supplies from Norbco.
From nitrogen limits to ecosystem restoration –farmers and catchment groups are leading a new wave of environmental care, says DairyNZ.
OPINION: The Government's decision to stop local authorities going ahead with reviews of district and regional plans makes sense for several reasons.
With June ending and following the most upbeat National Fieldays for several years, tractor dealers are reporting a lift in sales.
Global trade wars and uncertain tariff regimes could play into the hands of many New Zealand exporters, according to Gareth Coleman ANZ’s Head of Trade & Supply Chain.
The long running trade dispute between NZ and Canada appears to be over.
Herd improvement company LIC has ended the 2024-25 financial year in a strong position - debt-free and almost quadrupling its net profit.
OPINION: Will synthetic milk derail NZ's economy?
OPINION: According to media reports, the eye-watering price of butter has prompted Finance Minister Nicola Willis to ask for a…