Balanced diets key to keeping cows in milk
Waikato dairy farmers are well-placed heading into the peak of summer, thanks to favourable growing conditions late last year that resulted in abundant onfarm feed reserves.
Animal nutrient provider, SealesWinslow has appointed Graeme Smith as chief executive, effective May 1.
He succeeds Ross Hyland who will continue as a director of SealesWinslow and also lead growth projects to leverage the company's position as the only national provider of animal nutrition.
Smith is currently general manager, sales and marketing for Ballance Agri-Nutrients which holds a 51% shareholding in SealesWinslow. He has been with Ballance since 2000 and has a long track record in the pastoral sector.
Announcing the appointment, Neil Richardson, chairman of SealesWinslow, said Smith was selected after an extensive executive search.
"Graeme has a wealth of knowledge right across the whole agricultural industry which will be invaluable," Richardson says.
"He is also well connected with merchant networks and industry groups throughout the country. He originally hails from Mosgiel in the Deep South, a key region for SealesWinslow with ever growing demand and expectations from farmers.
"He also joins us at a pivotal time in the business, with more and more farmers recognising the strategic value of animal nutrients to their operations.
"Farmers are increasingly focused on their animals' complete nutrient needs, from pasture to supplements, rather than simply being reactive with supplementary feeding as a decision or consequence when climate's working against them. We are very well positioned to meet these needs."
Smith says he is looking forward to taking up his new role.
"We have a very positive rural economy, driven by farmers who get out of bed every morning thinking about how to increase productivity and profitability.
"Having spent most of my professional career working alongside them, I see this new role as a great opportunity to build SealesWinslow into the best nationwide nutrition company in New Zealand."
Richardson says the industry is highly competitive and volatile, but also offered good growth opportunities, with his company averaging growth rates of 25-30% in recent years, with the exception of the global financial crisis in 2008.
Smith joined Ballance in 2000 and has been responsible for overseeing Ballance's sales managers, technical sales representatives and the company's marketing and commercial business teams. Previously he worked for electric fence manufacturer Gallagher for 12 years, including five years as national sales manager.
Smith holds a post-graduate diploma in management studies from Waikato University and completed the senior executive programme at the London Business School.
On the edge of the hot, dry Takapau plains, Norm and Del Atkins have cultivated a small but exceptional herd of 60 Holstein Friesian cows within their mixed breed herd of 360 dairy cows.
The DairyNZ board and management are currently trying to determine whether, and to what degree, their farmer levy payers will support any increase in their levy contributions.
Milk production is up nationally, despite drought conditions beginning to bite in some districts, according to the latest update from Fonterra.
Dry conditions are widespread but worse in some places, with rain and drought affecting farms just a few kilometres away.
The Government's plan to merge the seven crown institutes presents exciting possibilities for plant technology company Grasslanz Technology, says chief executive Megan Skiffington.
Agribusiness leader Rob Hewett is the new chair of listed carpet maker Bremworth.
OPINION: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon sometimes can't escape his own corporate instinct for evasion, and in what should have been…
OPINION: Shane 'Matua' Jones, crusader against all things woke, including "woke banks", couldn't have scripted it better when his NZ…