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Richard Wyeth, Miraka
Much is said about the need for succession planning and leadership in New Zealand’s primary industries. The baby boomer bosses are gradually slipping out of the top jobs and into semi-retirement to take on directorships and ultimately exit the industry.
So where is the talent pool from which to recruit the next echelon?
This week we can see one example of how this will play out, in the emergence of a young Landcorp executive, Mark Julian, who runs the company’s big holding of dairy farms. It’s a huge role: he is responsible for the production of some 20 million kilograms of milk solids per year. It’s pretty impressive.
Just managing the staff for 59 dairy farms is a massive task in itself, but there’s more. Landcorp farms, in common with many Maori farms, are in marginal farming areas. These are places where many commercial farmers would never go, yet Landcorp is there developing land.
Landcorp’s very existence is often criticised. “Why does the government farm?” the uninformed critics wail. Fact is they’re farming tough country, and thanks to this business NZ Inc is getting a good return off marginal land, because it has smart young people such as Mark Julian at the wheel.
People who think strategically and practically, and bring into their businesses other talented young people, are doing New Zealand proud.
Another example is Richard Wyeth, the young chief executive of the Maori-owned dairy company Miraka in the central North Island. This start-up company is already achieving goals ahead of time by its strategy.
People like Julian and Wyeth show that we have emerging talent in the leadership ranks of the primary sector. There are many others in science, agribusiness and technology.
The main thing is that New Zealand keeps encouraging young people to choose careers in the primary sector where the opportunities are limitless.
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