Teaser bull leaser bags top award
Waikato dairy farmer Jennie Macky has been named the best agri-businesswoman of the year.
Macky who started the Teaser Bull Company two years ago, took out the award at the recent Fly Buys Mumtrepreneur Awards.
The company leases 15-month old sterile bulls to farmers; the bulls help farmers identify cows on heat, improving submission rates in herds. Once the lease is over, the teaser bulls are sold to freezing works.
Macky and her partner James Kinston are 40% equity partners on a 1000-cow farm at Parawera, near Te Awamutu; she is also sharemilking 230 cows on a nearby farm at Kihikihi.
Macky told Dairy News that she was “pretty stoked” with the win.
Judge, Stephen England-Hall described Macky as “innovative, strategic and showing great marketing nous”. “Teaser Bull is a brilliant concept with a captive market.”
Macky says the award is reassuring.
“It gives reassurance I have started a sound and viable business and at times when I question myself – stick to my guns and make it happen.
“For the business it has created amazing publicity and got people talking about the value of using Teaser Bulls.”
Macky, who has five children, believes women can help keep up morale on farms, especially during the dairy downturn.
Mistakes and accidents happen when we are not in the right frame of mind, she says.
“Try to keep the financial stress at home and when out working be as organised, efficient and as positive as you can. “The welfare of stock, staff and your own self is paramount to running a good business.”
Macky says women should not be afraid to ask advice from “positive people” around them.
“No one is immune in the current situation and everyone has a different approach to dealing with it - some good and some not so good.
“Don’t make quick knee jerk reactions that could be detrimental to your business, sit on a decision for a few days and if it still seems right them maybe it is.”
Macky says the beef schedule is good at present; rather than dropping feed and putting cows on the typical NZ controlled starvation diet, maybe it’s more profitable to drop stocking rate a little and capitalise on great cull values?
“For those at home staring at the accounts in dismay, that’s me, get a reality check, do realistic budgets, accept the inevitable and turn it into a positive.
“So we might make a loss this year but how can we minimise this loss and create opportunity for when the industry improves? Finally take time with your family, and when you do, sit back and take stock of what is really important in life.”
Teaser bulls
- 15 months old
- At full maturity, have a high libido and are less likely to injure themselves or the cows.
- Bulls are Friesian and cross-bred.
- Each bull has undergone surgery to make them infertile (sterile). One testicle is removed to create a visual sign the surgery has been done.
