Three-way contest for two Alliance board seats
Three candidates are running for two vacant seats on the board of meat co-operative Alliance.
Iremonger was presented with the Rabobank ‘Dr John Morris’ Business Development Prize, for 2017 before fellow 2017 graduates of Rabobank’s prestigious Executive Development Program (EDP) – a leading business management program for progressive New Zealand and Australian farmers – in Sydney.
His strategic business plan – which was completed as a project as part of his Executive Development Program studies – detailed the strategy for Kaiweka Farms Ltd, a new start-up farming company he has recently invested in, along with his wife Katy and two other farming families.
The new venture is a multi-enterprise pastoral and arable farming unit which provides a diversified income stream. The operation currently runs crossbred ewes, beef cows, dairy heifer grazers and a selection of crops including barley, wheat, radishes and carrots.
Iremonger, who also works as general manager for Willesden Farms on Banks Peninsula near Christchurch, says the business plan for Kaiweka Farms outlined three horizons for the enterprise over the next five-year period.
“The first horizon was to purchase the farms and to get the business established. This horizon has largely been achieved through the purchase of the core properties as well two lease blocks. We’ve also set up a management structure for the business with board meetings scheduled on a monthly basis and we’ve appointed a really talented team of staff to run the business on a day-to-day basis,” he said.
The second horizon, Iremonger said, was the further development of the land which will see investment into an irrigation scheme and infrastructure, while the final horizon is the aim to capture a greater proportion of the supply chain through the development of relationships with processors and retailers.
“While these horizons are a few years away, it’s really important for us that everyone who is involved in the venture buys into the business plan and is clear on where we want to take the business in the medium to long term,” he said.
Iremonger said Kaiweka Farms’ aim for the future was to be within the top 10% of farms for class and scale.
