That’s why the corporate farmer and grower has adopted an equity manager structure for the multi-farm pods in its dairying business, he says.
“We wanted highly capable, experienced farmers in our business who have invested their equity, have skin in the game.
“It brings alignment but also means we have skilled people working right in those farming businesses every day,” Mark says.
The equity managers typically hold a 5-10% equity stake in the whole pod, so their investment is significant.
Craigmore has five dairying pods as part of its investment portfolio that also includes forestry, grazing and horticulture properties and encompasses a total of 15,000ha across 40 individual operations.
Craigmore Sustainables was set up in 2008 by Mark and his brother-in-law Forbes Elworthy, son of the late Sir Peter Elworthy.
Forbes had worked on the farm but most of his career has been spent in finance, working in the UK while Mark has been involved in horticulture and set up his own export company, Coxco, which is now part of Craigmore.
Craigmore Sustainables acts as a vehicle for more than $250m of investment into New Zealand primary production.
Andrew Horsbrugh – benchmarking important.
The current milk price shock has the company modifying its systems but investors take a long term view and the outlook for dairying in NZ remains strong.
Andrew Horsbrugh is Craigmore Farming’s chief executive and says the company’s Christchurch head office is about developing and managing systems the pod managers can use to support their decision-making and help them when it comes to risk management, reporting and benchmarking.
“It’s also about creating an environment where we can learn from each other.”
The company has been working on creating career pathways for people within the business offering scholarships at Lincoln University to foster top-class graduates and supporting training to help staff progress.
But Mark says they haven’t solved the challenge of helping people move through the business from entry level to the point where they could significantly invest in the business.
“We can’t say we have everything where we want it yet. There are still some things we are grappling with like that but we have some ideas,” he says.
Sustainability across all platforms of the business is a strong focus.
Craigmore sustainability principles
Team-Community:
1. Enhance the safety, skills and job satisfaction of our people
2. Promote open and honest communication with all parties
3. Promote well-balanced communities
Environmental:
4. Grow healthy and safe products
5. Protect and enhance animal welfare, biodiversity, soil and water
6. Minimise risk from use of chemicals and atmospheric pollution
Business-Financial:
7. Think long-term and reward the team for behaving as owners
8. Measure risks and manage them to appropriate levels
9. Maximise profits within the above ethical and risk constraints
