Craig Norgate has single-handedly rewritten the agribusiness text book.
In a sector that has largely been the domain of co-operatives and tradition, Mr Norgate through the company he chairs, PGG Wrightson, has driven change, creating new business models and structures.
He did just that this week with a proposal which would see publicly-listed corporate PGG Wrightson take a 50% stake in farmer-owned Dunedin meat processing and marketing co-operative Silver Fern Farms for $220 million, a move that came out of left field and which has shaken up a traditionally-run industry.
Mr Norgate said in an interview this week this was about more than arresting three years of poor sheep farmer returns.
It was about transforming an industry he believed could be the red meat equivalent of Fonterra through branding and linking the requirements of consumers from new, emerging markets with producers.
"It is a sector that could do the same things as Fonterra and influence internationally. It is not inconceivable that it could handle 60% of the world's lamb marketing," he said in Balclutha.
Those that know Mr Norgate say that sort of vision is typical of the cow man from Taranaki - where many see despair and despondency, Mr Norgate sees opportunity.
Many consider Mr Norgate New Zealand's most influential businessmen, a title he rejects, saying it is more about opportunity and, in the case of the meat industry, taking on a leadership role to drive change when no-one else is succeeding.
"I would have preferred we were not involved, that we let the industry sort itself out."
He has overlooked the train wrecks which litter the landscape and seen potential in the unrivalled reputation of New Zealand lamb, a world hungry for safe, quality products and an industry stuck in a rut of traditional systems.
Those who know him say no-one else could pull this deal off.
But he is trying, and the blueprint for the industry's future structure will be rewritten as a result, something Mr Norgate has practice at.
He did it with the launch of New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay (NZFSU), a publicly-listed company which replicates New Zealand dairy farming know-how to take advantage of Uruguay's low land and operating costs and favourable growing climate.
PGG Wrightson is the company's second largest shareholder but it also manages the business, for which it receives a fee.
Mr Norgate said NZFSU utilised New Zealand's strengths as Fonterra was also doing, and he believed there was potential for red meat, strong wool, rural servicing and horticultural industries to follow.
His optimism was reinforced by predictions 6% of the United States beef herd was expected to be slaughtered by Christmas due to rising grain prices, making safe, grass-fed, free-range protein even more valuable.
But, first it was a case of getting a structure and ownership that would allow such expansion.
Brazil was already doing that in beef, buying most of Uruguay's beef process industry and recently investing in Australia.
Equally at home having a beer in a rural hotel with a bunch of farmers or in a board room full of suits, Mr Norgate has charisma and the ability to lead and inspire.
When he embarks on a project it always gets completed.
But, even his most ardent supporters believe this deal will test him.
In his favour is that the meat industry has seldom been at such a low ebb, with a lack of profitability but high land prices giving alternative farmers land use options.
Many view the PGG Wrightson offer as a badly-needed circuit breaker for a beleaguered industry with several failed attempts to change.
The deal is more than a cash injection, rather it signals fundamental change from a production and grass-fed system to an integrated supply chain, where product is supplied according to customer requirements.
Farmers would be encouraged to supply stock on year-round contracts to new and emerging markets which require product 52 weeks of the year rather than the seven months at present operating.
Eventually, Mr Norgate expects there to be one large meat company, another smaller but significant player and then several niche operators.
In a leaf out of Fonterra's book, Silver Fern Farms is also likely to use its expertise and brand strength to source product overseas to fill any supply gaps.
The meat industry deal mirrors another recent PGG Wrightson proposal designed to save the struggling strong wool industry, with the rural servicing company consigning its wool-handling business into a joint venture co-operative with growers, the Wool Company, which will market and brand New Zealand crossbred wool.
Farmers will own 60% of the new company and PGG Wrightson 40%.
The Wool Company will pay $46 million for PGG Wrightson's wool-handling facilities of which $10 million would be in cash and the balance debt and equity.
Crucial to Mr Norgate has been the financial clout and guidance of the Dunedin brothers Baird and Alan McConnon.
The influence of the former owners of Mainland Products has not been lost on Mr Norgate who, jointly through Rural Portfolio Investments, owns 30% of PGG WrightsonMr Norgate regularly pays tribute to his southern business partners, who he said would contribute to the new direction rural business was taking through their Mainland Product experiences.
He said this week the McConnons had taken Mainland from a $100 million business in 1996 to a $2.4 billion business in 2001 through developing and selling brands, a key skill as New Zealand agribusiness embarked on a new branded product path.
The future was about more than shoring up the rural industry, he said, it was about looking to utilise New Zealand skills and expertise around the world to earn income.
Mr Norgate is under no illusion as to the role agriculture will have in the future.
"I am driven by a fundamental belief that agriculture will continue to be the backbone of the economy in 20 years' time.
"If New Zealand is to have a place in the world up there with the rich countries, including our neighbour Australia, we have got to be more than just a production-driven sector, but exploit our full range of capabilities internationally."
The man
• Craig Michael Norgate (43).
• Married to Jane, children Dylan, Jordan, Alexandria.
• Lives in Auckland.
• Born Hawera.
• Educated: Hawera primary and secondary schools, Massey University.
• Aged 21: District accountant Maori Affairs Dept, Hastings.
• Aged 26: Chief executive Kiwi Co-operative taking company revenue from $300 million to $4 billion.
• Aged 36: Chief executive Fonterra.
• Aged 38: Dumped from Fonterra. Launches Rural Portfolio Investments with Dunedin brothers Baird and Alan McConnon.
• 2004: RPI successfully takes over Wrightson and later merges with Williams and Kettle, then Pyne Gould Guinness.
• 2006: New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay listed.
• 2008: Central figure in restructuring strong wool and meat industries.
