Starting out in our dairying career, Aaron and I were very much typical of the first definition – moving towards the destination of farm ownership, and for us this was primarily through the traditional route of working for wages then sharemilking.
We didn’t yet have a family, we were driven and the end-goal was clear.
We regularly attended discussion groups and conferences, and attended focused courses like Mark & Measure to work towards Destination Farm Ownership.
Then in 2004 we were there! But after the euphoria had subsided and the first season onfarm was under our belt, we began to feel a little adrift as to where our journey should lead next.
When business growth is the goal, the “destination” can become more vague.
At this point the meaning of progress for us moved towards the second definition, and now it is more about ideas such as creating a business that provides financial freedom for us (and our three daughters in time), improving our farms year-on-year so we leave the land in a better state than when we received it, and growing a team alongside us who will be equipped to meet their own goals in the future.
As far as business growth goes, we have had to become more creative in a region where there are not many smaller scale farms to buy.
Equity partnerships, contract milking for large-scale, corporate farm owners and even forming partnerships to take on sharemilking positions are options we have pursued.
Our home farm is no just one cog in a more complex machine. Improving the farms has been something we have always been keen to do anyway, but other farmers will relate to the increasing external pressures from society to be more accountable for how and why we do what we do behind the farmgate.
Compliance work relating to irrigation, fertiliser usage, waste management and so on is certainly more time consuming than it used to be, but for many it is simply a case of making time to create a paper trail of what we’ve generally been doing anyway as responsible custodians of the land.
The challenge here is to continue efforts to “sell” our good stories to the mainstream media and have the work done by farmers at their own expense acknowledged and appreciated by the urban community.
Personal development of ourselves and our team is critical to the success of not only our business, but the industry as a whole. The skill set required now by farmers is much more intricate than it was a generation ago, and work to develop these skills is ongoing.
Something that has always impressed me about the dairy industry is farmers’ willingness to share their stories and experience with others.
I personally believe that wherever you are on the path, you have an obligation to help those further behind you, since they will one day be the ones to take the reins and allow you to step back from the workload.
I am forever grateful to those who have taught me and aspire to be that person to someone else whenever the opportunity is presented.
So for those who have reached their destination – be it a job, a farm or a point in your life’s journey – do not allow yourself to now float adrift. Instead, reassess your course, and decide how you will continue to develop yourself, your farm and your team towards an improved condition so that your family, friends and community will someday see you as an instrument of progress.
• Frances and Aaron Coles operate a large scale farming business centred around their own 287ha farm at Orari in South Canterbury, where they milk about 900 cows. They are also involved in two other equity partnerships and contract-milk an adjacent farm for the NZ Superannuation Fund. Frances may also be known to some readers through her involvement over the years with Dairy Women’s Network and the Dairy Industry Awards.
