At 17, James Stenton was believed to be the world’s youngest still master, despite not being old enough to drink.
Now Mr Stenton is making a name for himself in a very different industry, winning the Keith Andrews Innovation Award at the recent Groundspread New Zealand awards.
For about the past decade, he has worked at family-owned business Mainland Spreading, based at Weston, near Oamaru, where he describes himself as the general dogsbody. Boss John Schultz, also his father-in-law, prefers to call him fleet manager — "if anyone had titles around here".
The award nomination said Mr Stenton should be recognised for the gains he was making in spreader performance and for sharing those ideas with the wider industry.
"His raw knowledge in such a short space of time is a credit to him. He knows what he wants to achieve out of a machine and where he wants the fleet to go and approaches the right people, with the right language, to instigate these improvements. He is open to the ideas of others and happy to take on the learnings of others too."
Mr Stenton, who said the best part of the award was the recognition from his peers, grew up rurally, originally in Southland and then around the South Island as his father sought work as a painter and decorator.
His parents moved to Hampden 33 years ago.
At 14, during his school holidays and at weekends, he got a job with a boutique distiller in Moeraki which built home brewing stills and supplied associated products for the home brewing industry. He did packaging and other menial jobs while waiting for a full-time job to come up.
Then he received a message one day while at Waitaki Boys’ High School to call home as there was a "family emergency". That emergency was a message to call the owner about the job he had been waiting for.
So he had his leaving certificate the next day and started at Spirits Unlimited where he remained for 12 years. That included a move to Timaru as the business grew and included making Old Hokonui whisky.
Ironically, Mr Stenton’s parents were both life-long teetotallers and he did not particularly like the taste of whisky until he was in his 20s.
After meeting his future wife Kylie Schultz and with a desire to start a family, the couple moved to Weston where Mr Stenton worked building dairy sheds and doing maintenance in North Otago and South Canterbury.
When a lack of land for dairy conversions meant demand for dairy sheds dried up, it was suggested Mr Stenton work for the Schultz family’s business. It was originally mooted that he work on their farm and do some relief driving. Two months later, he was a full-time truck driver and never set foot on the farm.
Asked whether he was concerned about joining a family business, Mr Stenton said he knew his father-in-law was a "straight-up, no bull.... sort of guy".
"It never came into it that it wasn’t going to work."
Mr Stenton, who is a full-time driver in season as well as leading maintenance and is transitioning into office work this season, said he had come to love the groundspread industry.
While "not a truck nut", he enjoyed the agriculture industry and while agriculture and fertiliser could get "a bad rap" at times, "99% of the cockies out there are doing an absolutely amazing job".
The nomination said Mr Stenton used his deep understanding of machinery to communicate effectively with industry tech developers to turn his ideas into reality and then shared them with others for no monetary or personal gain.
Any improvements done on the Mainland equipment, he happily shared with others and supported them implementing in their own businesses, raising standards for the entire industry.
"James is collaborative by nature and builds great relationships with others in the rural community. He is very well respected by the local farming community. He is a very good communicator with his team of operators. He explains the reason behind ‘why’ they are doing things, instead of just the ‘how’. He is a natural leader without even trying."
When trucks were built, they were tested on flat ground to make sure they spread properly. But businesses like Mainland Spreading worked in a lot of hill country and, as soon as the pitch and roll of trucks changed, then gravity took over with how the product flowed.
A modification Mr Stenton did mitigated that and controlled the delivery of fertilisers for the spinners. It was all about putting the product where the farmer needed it.
He had no issue sharing innovation with others in the industry. Nick Hyslop, from another North Otago business, Hyslop Groundspread, was one of his best mates. "It’s not a competition-type thing, we’re all out here doing it for the greater good," he said.
Mr Stenton’s key driver was driver safety, followed by a quality spread. His wife Kylie won the health and safety award at the Groundspread New Zealand awards in 2022.
Working in a family business had its benefits. Mrs Stenton did the dispatching and was in the office first thing in the morning while he did the school run, dropping the couple’s daughters, aged 11 and 9, at the bus stop before heading to work. The other side was sometimes long hours finishing work in the workshop late at night while keeping the trucks going.
Mr Stenton was thrilled to see Mr Schultz also recognised for his "massive" contribution to the industry — "it’s not very often you see him stuck for words but he was that night" — with the awarding of life membership of Groundspread New Zealand.
Mr Schultz and his wife Nivonne started Mainland Spreading in 1999 with two trucks. The business now had 13 trucks operating between South Canterbury through to South Otago.
The nomination said Mr Schultz’s desire to have people at the centre of his business had led him to become a great leader and mentor for many.
He has held various positions with the organisation, including national president from 2019 to 2021, national vice-president and a council delegate for more than 10 years. He has been chairman of the Otago-Southland branch since last year.
"While in these positions John approached every challenge or situation the same way he approaches life, in a calm manner but always with purpose and direction, while ensuring he is bringing people along for the journey with him.
"His understanding that the best results, will always come from collaboration with others, this ensuring John is always creating an environment where people work towards having shared goals and have confidence to question or share their own thought or point of view," the nomination said.
The Schultz family moved south from Mt Maunganui in 1992; they were dairy farmers who were attracted by the herd sizes in the area.
When they later sold their cows, they decided they liked the area and would stay.
