46 | RURAL SERVICES » AD Agriculture Contractor hits the ground running Hard at work on the bailer. Photo by Darren Stanley. Virginia Wright In the second season of running his rural contracting business AD Agriculture, while at the same time managing Te Paiaka Lands Trust, Alistair Dinniss is a very busy man during the summer. When he bought the business off John Caul eld who’d been doing it for 20 years it came with four tractors, a baler, rakes and all the baling gear, as well as his client list. It’s fair to say that Alistair hit the ground running. Last year they did 6000 of the round bales they specialize in and this year they had already hit the 5500 mark by mid-January when the weather turned against them. An extended heatwave and accompanying wind started rapidly drying out the grass and forcing farmers to graze what they might otherwise have baled. Luckily AD Agriculture budgets conservatively with this sort of setback considered. “We were 1000 bales over budget last year,” says Alistair. “We budgeted on 5000 and did 6000 and we’re about on budget again this year so as far as my costings go we’re pretty good. It’s the same as farming, you always err on the side of caution just in case, because you never know what’s going to happen that summer.” The contracting machinery and accompanying gear, including the second baler and another tractor with front linkages which Alistair invested in last year, is kept on the farm he manages on the outskirts of Rotorua bordering Rotorua township. With a team of four including himself, and John Caul eld on stand-by to run it, having the second baler means Alistair can play catch-up after extended periods of rain and “keep the customers happy when the crops need to come off fast before it starts to fall over and deteriorate.” Suf ce to say the extra gear has already paid for itself with the way this summer has played out. Apart from the longer hours Alistair puts in, he believes it’s the planning combined with some very good staff that enables him to manage the summer juggle of contracting and farm managing. “I’ve got one of the most experienced crews around on the machines – I’m the youngest by 10 or 15 years, so I call myself the owner apprentice,” he says. “Then I’ve got a really good guy on the farm keeping things going. Communication’s the big thing to making sure everything ows which means my phone is the heart of the whole operation really.” Early mornings and late nights to oversee operations on the farm combine with frequent and regular phone calls with his 2IC as the macro-planning they did in the months leading up to summer and the contracting season is supported by a plan developed at the start of each week. Now 44, Alistair grew up on a farm and farming remains his passion. After 22 years managing farms including the last eight managing Te Paiaka Lands Trust Alistair has ne-tuned a system over time and over different properties. Te Paiaka Lands Trust fatten 200 2yr old steers each year and carry another 200 straight Angus yearling steers through. They graze between 740 and 750 dairy heifers each year as well as running a small ewe ock of 800 – 900. The dairy heifers bring with them a reliable monthly cheque which spreads the risk. “It diversi es the farming system so you’re not exposing yourself to all steer fattening or lamb fattening,” Alistair explains. And his system’s clearly paying off. “We’re part of a grouping of Maori entities called the Awhina Group and we sell as a group together. At the moment with our production we’re sitting at number three out of 20 odd farms. Last year we were number one on our lamb returns. We’ve got the potential to be a show-farm and the hard work we’ve been doing is starting to pay off.” “We’re part of a grouping of Maori entities called the Awhina Group and we sell as a group together.” Brosnahan Agricultural Spraying Ltd Gene Brosnahan Cell: 027-410 1035 Email:bas@brosnahanagri.co.nz FOR ALL YOUR MOTORCYCLE NEEDS LAKES HONDA: 51 Fairy Springs Road, Rotorua. Tel: 07 348 4100 Alan: 027 348 4102 Grant: 027 348 4100 Email: sales@lakeshonda.co.nz www.lakeshonda.co.nz New & used farm bikes · ATV’s & Pioneer Genuine Honda parts & accessories · Honda Power Equipment in stock ALL makes & models serviced & repaired · Fully equipped farm service truck Motorcycle & trailer WOF · Finance available from zero deposit - Trade-ins welcome Tractors & Machinery P 07 349 6528 • F 07 349 6584 • M 021 891 058 • E sales@truckandtractor.co.nz
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