It released its annual report for the past year last week, which acknowledged record high sales, totalling $29.2 million.
The MLT was able to support the community generously this year, returning $174,124 to the community through its profit and loss account, $59,993 as donations, and the The Trust’s Community Foundation distributed $1,036,979, up from the previous year’s $666,000.
The report noted significant challenges for the MLT, due to inflation, regulatory compliance issues, staffing shortages and significant cost increases. To come through all of those with a record high was "due to the hard work and resilience of the team".
General manager Mark Paterson said the report reflected the difficulties the board had found itself in with the economic downturn.
"The staffing situation, although still bad, has eased up slightly. There’s no growth, costs are up about 10% up which is hard to combat ... "
Mr Paterson said he was optimistic for the future.
"We’ve become more resilient after Covid. We’re well positioned moving forward, with no debt and a stable management team and a very good staff.
"It certainly is a lot harder this year in terms of sales, but we’re not in a situation where we’re concerned in any way," he said.
Mr Paterson said he was confident the organisation would enter a growth period again should the agricultural sector enter an upswing.
