Newsletter December 2017
I started Agri Magic because I love farming, I love the communities I live in, and I love New Zealand.
It is a wonderful privilege to have grown up and be involved in agriculture here.
Although the farmers we cross paths with have always held strong stewardship values it is now a requirement that we demonstrate this to others outside of the farm gate and challenge ourselves in a whole new way through the process.
Our wee start up business has grown in scale and capability in an attempt to match the needs of our farming community. While we have been doing our best to deliver a great service to our customers, we have also been setting up our own internal business systems, juggling our cash flow and investing in building our capability through on-going learning.
Thank you to all of those who have supported our business, our team and me, personally, over these months. I hope we can repay your belief in us by continuing to deliver the very best service to our farming customers through changing times. At times, we struggle to cope with the workload and time constraints these new regulations require, but we do our very best to juggle priorities and get through it with you.
It seems that farming people know what it feels like to never have enough hours in the day, we appreciate your understanding!
Our goal is to become more proactive in the service we provide now that we have a bit more scale. Hopefully we won’t need to grow again for a while (!!).
Agri Magic won’t be the biggest, but we will strive to be the best at supporting your farming future.
At Agri Magic we have farming in our blood and respect for the challenges and abilities of our farming customers.
We are excited about the future of New Zealand’s primary sector.
Our expertise and knowledge means we are able to view the world from a farmer’s and farm business perspective and we have a genuine belief that we can help build more effective, efficient and future proofed businesses.
Businesses just like yours.
Wishing you all a Merry and Magical Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Many thanks,
Charlotte
Our team has been growing…
Agri Magic can only be useful to farmers if it employs great people; wise men and women say that you should work with and grow people to be way better than you are yourself – and that is how I feel about our team now!
We have grown in scale so that we can now sustainably include a full time Office Manager – Shannon Corbett. At Agri Magic our office people are not “back office” they are the heart of our business and no doubt you will hear from Shannon at some stage.
Until now Kaylene Fenton has been juggling part time finance and office support tasks for us a couple of days a week. She will continue to help me with the finances but will also help with customer work now too. Kaylene has an international career in accountancy and investment banking behind her. We are very glad that she decided to come home to New Zealand, buy herself a walnut orchard close by and work with us part time!
At Agri Magic we cherish the fact that our consultants have practical farming experience as well as academic and technical ability to support your farms now and in the future.
Anna Higginson – Lead Farm Environment Consultant
Anna (nee McLachlan) was married last January and is now a Higginson. Anna will continue working in the team in everyday delivery, while growing her skills in leading and building capability across our nutrients team. She has recently been awarded a scholarship through Woman & Leadership New Zealand to take part in an accelerated leadership performance program, which she will commence in 2018.
Jessica Lee – Farm Environment Analyst
Jessica Lee joined Agri Magic back in February 2016 as a graduate in Environmental Management and Planning. Together we have been learning to negotiate the new world of resource consents for farming and building an understanding of the plans that govern us. Jess has already built a wealth of knowledge, takes care of land use consents for our team and helps keep us updated through the changes.
Roshean Woods – Junior Farm Environment Consultant
Dr Roshean Woods joined us in March 2017 after submitting her PhD thesis and has rapidly developed her skills in nutrient management and farm systems. Roshean is involved with Young Farmers, has a love of science and research and is wonderfully capable!
Warren Landles – Farm Environment Consultant
Warren joined us in August 2017 to help ensure we look after our existing customers better by having robust Farm Environment Plans in place, and generally provide the follow up service that so many customers are asking us for. Warren has amazing experience with so many aspects of agriculture internationally and in NZ. He and wife Helen have worked in farming and associated professional services in Europe, Canada and the Falkland Islands as well as in New Zealand where he has recently been working with the Craigmore Sustainables Group.
Chris Beatson – Junior Farm Environment Consultant
Chris has just completed his final year of an Agr Sc (Hons) degree at Lincoln and is looking forward to his first position as a graduate. Chris will work within both the nutrients team and alongside Warren with Farm Planning.
Denise King – Farm Environment Consultant (part time)
Denise works in with our nutrients team part time and has fabulous experience in all aspects of agriculture but specifically in arable farm systems. She is based near Methven from her home where she is also wife to Grant and mother of four busy children.
Alison van Polanen – Farm Environment Consultant (part time)
Ali works in with our nutrients team on a part time basis from her home near Lowcliffe where she is also juggling farm life with husband Andrew and two young pre-schoolers. Ali also runs her own business EnviroPlan which specialises in audits for Farm Environment Plans.
Angela Harvey – Senior Farm Environment Consultant
After Christmas we will be welcoming Angela Harvey to Agri Magic. Angela has a great breadth of farm skills having managed dairy herds and worked in professional roles with Ballance Agri Nutrients and DairyNZ. Angela will be helping with both nutrients work and Farm Environment Planning.