It’s acquired more land and is more actively farming it. Dion Tuuta says the company has been putting more managers on the farms and, as he puts it, “it’s really about getting more of the slice of the milk cheque, owning more of the risk and taking more of the reward”.
“We are still going to keep a mixture of sharemilkers and managed farms because we still have some harder farms more suited to the 50/50 model.
“This also gives some of the really good
younger guys on our farms – those with big aspirations – the opportunity to get into a variable-order and then a 50-50 job. So having that opportunity is quite a benefit the incorporation can provide for its people.”
As well, Tuuta and his team are looking at making all the farms more efficient and moving from the present systems so as to reduce dependence on supplementary feed and reduce costs.