We farm with pragmatism, knowing the decisions we make today will impact tomorrow.
Productivity is maximised through careful stewardship of the land, excellent grass growth, care for our animals, and the prudent use of technology.
We're focused on maximising productivity, maintaining profitability, and offering solid returns to shareholders. Doing this requires a farming system which makes the best use of our experience, technology, and our knowledge of the local environment, ensuring each farm is fully optimised for repeat success.
At the same time as achieving real results today, we're farming for tomorrow. We know our actions impact future generations and this influences the methods we use and the decisions we take. Dairy farming will continue to play an important role in the New Zealand economy and how we farm will contribute to a positive future for us and other farmers.
The Environment & Sustainability
All farms are compliant with current consent conditions. All will be compliant with new consent conditions and meet the challenges of new standards. But it’s not just about that. It’s about doing more. Every individual farm has an Environment Plan and we’re establishing the key environmental numbers such as greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen surplus. Then we mitigate them using independent bodies to help us learn, understand and make improvements.
We strive to do the right thing and work with Environment Southland, Fonterra and others to ensure we stay well ahead of compliance. It’s an approach that we know is, and will, make a difference for the better.
Health & Safety
We care for our team and their families. For us, health and safety is more than following procedures — it’s part of how we work, every day. We provide the training, tools and resources our people need to work safely and look after each other, with one clear goal: everyone goes home safely, every day.
Through practical action on-farm and a genuine focus on wellbeing, we’re building a culture where safety is everyone’s responsibility, people speak up, and looking after each other is simply how we do things.
Technology
Technology is used as an enabler, allowing us to improve performance, free-up time for other tasks, and reduce fertiliser use through a highly targeted application that's mapped and measured.
Using technology, we're able to improve pasture growth and maximise milk production, with better data helping us to make more informed decisions, reducing wastage, and better mitigating risk.
Animal Welfare
The wellbeing of our animals is at the heart of how we farm. We use the Five Domains Model, a modern approach to animal welfare developed in New Zealand that recognises welfare is about more than physical health — it also considers how animals experience and feel their environment. The model helps us take a holistic approach to animal welfare, ensuring we consider both positive and negative experiences across five key areas:
- Nutrition - providing the right nutrition and access to clean, fresh water.
- Environment - creating safe, comfortable environments that support natural behaviours.
- Health - maintaining good health and preventing, identifying and treating illness and injury.
- Behaviour - enabling animals to express natural behaviours and interact positively with their environment.
- Mental State - recognising how these experiences influence how an animal feels and its overall welfare.
