Living in an age of TikTok and Instagram I sometimes feel the world moves a lot faster than I would have once imagined. As a sheep and beef farmer of any scale staying competitive and resilient often took a back seat to just getting the work done! For years we looked forward like expectant children on Christmas Eve to hearing the magical words from stock agents, procurement companies and business speculators on the seasons predicted high hopes for good stock prices. And then only too often to have them eventuate to a more disappointing average while running costs continued to rise. Apart from the odd high point to spark some flame of hope, farmers often worked tirelessly all year to produce internationally regarded products that increasingly struggled to cover expenditure.
To maintain sanity, income and lifestyle, we realised we had to shed the coil of price taker and add our own value to our lamb, beef and eggs. We love our animals and I always felt torn at selling fine looking lambs after a year with the hope of only receiving $120/head on the upside. Purchasing a small hospitality food trailer with my wife at the helm, led to many brainstorming sessions about how we could possibly use our own animals with no waste and profit added. Sorcery I hear you say, but no it was possible. New Zealand is a small nation and the old saying, it’s not what you know but who you know, couldn’t be more apt.
Embarking on a caller’s hotline to anyone we knew in the industry like butchers, retail shops and abattoirs we formulated a plan. We waded into the world of food certification and MPI risk management programmes…enough to test anyone’s resilience! As Winston Churchill once said, “If you find yourself going through hell, keep going”. The outcome spoke for itself; customers, friends and overseas visitors loved locally produced lamb, beef and eggs all grown on farm where they could visit if they wished. Not only knowing where it originated but also to engage one on one about the dynamics of the business and our animals is satisfying for both sides and created new views and relationships that continue still.
It’s not easy and anyone who tells you it is - is stretching the truth. I’m certainly not what you would call an intellectual but I could have understood Greek more easily than some of the Government templates and box ticking. There were huge amounts of paperwork involved and some sleepless nights but the benefits made it all worthwhile. Sitting down in the quiet hours and wondering how we both did it actually required some serious reflection. Hugely important to us is our ability to vent and ask for advice, help and feedback. Enter our circle of friends and family. We are blessed to maintain a wide and immensely supportive group from all walks of life and business. Spontaneous dinners at various residences offered the opportunities to throw ideas into the air in an environment that always bore fruit. I can’t stress the importance of this especially in the shorter, colder days of winter.
Giving back and serving has been an important part of what we have always done and all ways will. Being part of a volunteer fire brigade makes you appreciate the small things and being able to help where it’s needed, particularly in our own community. Through this we meet new people, get out of 'Dodge‘ on occasion to attend courses that are totally unrelated to farming, building new skills and strengths to deal with future challenges. Farmers are some of the most ingenious and innovative individuals in the country and I’m confident that for every hurdle that’s thrown our way there will be someone leaning on his gate talking to his or her neighbour about how they can clear it.
