Gumboot takeover 40 years strong

“If we are getting those messages, we have failed,” he told Rural News.

Instead, Campbell wants Ravensdown known as an agri service business “that happens to use products that protect the environment and the social license to operate”.

“We want to turn the conversation around -- from ‘polluters’ to ‘we understand and value what you do and we won’t sell products that will have negative outcomes’.”

Ravensdown, headquartered in Christchurch and turning 40 in August, was launched in 1977 by farmers fed up with being at the mercy of two commercial operators.

By the end of Ravensdown’s beginning, two of New Zealand’s largest companies would be delisted from the stock exchange – an unheard of precedent. By the end of 1977, a small band of far-sighted pioneers had wrested control of four fertiliser factories and nine stores from a commercial entity that had fought them tooth and nail.

The cooperative spirit of those early pioneers prevailed and Ravensdown was here to stay.

Today the co-op owns three manufacturing sites, 90 stores, joint venture spreading companies running 85 trucks and an aerial spreading business. An environmental consultancy business, set up there years ago, is the fastest growing unit within the company. Four services are offered: Overseer modeling, farm environment management plans, water quality testing and resource consent applications.

Campbell says shareholders are keen that the company is in discussion on their behalf and provides services, particularly in agronomy and science. It also collects farm data, from farming systems to outputs, on behalf of farmers “who are happy to be benchmarked against one another”.

“A farmer can look at any one paddock at any one time to see what’s going on, the likely production and whether he will have any potential environmental issue.”

“A lot of shareholders are quite happy about the challenge- how they are going against the other farmers; I haven’t met too many farmers who don’t want to help their fellow farmer. If all our farmers do well it’s good for NZ.

“When I talk to our founding shareholders, they tell us what they foresaw,” Campbell says.