| 83 Environment ‘is dear to my heart’ Mike has developed the business he bought from his dad 20 years ago. Kelly Deeks RURAL SERVICES » Haycock Contracting With a close connection to Dannevirke and the surrounding areas, Haycock Contracting is proud to provide progressive earthmoving services into the rural and civil sectors across the Manawatu-Whanganui region. As the son of a dairy farmer and a dry stock farmer himself, Mike Haycock’s heart lies in the rural sector. “I love being out there in the open air, and farmers are great to work for,” he says. “We are a small contracting outfit with 10 drivers and we like to support our community. We employ local people and we partner with local businesses to keep the money coming back into our community.” Mike has developed the business he bought from his dad 20 years ago from a fertiliser spreading contractor into a rural and civil earthmoving contractor, getting out of forestry roading because of the industry’s associated environmental issues. “The environment is dear to my heart and I didn’t want to be part of filling up the waterways.” In Haycock Contracting, Mike can set his own environmental standards and he’s now working on reducing his business’s emissions through smart machinery choices. “We’re running a lot more modern fleet,” he says. “Part of my criteria and my decision making around buying new machines has been their Co2 emissions.” Haycock Contracting’s latest machine bought last year is a 14 tonne Volvo excavator with a Steelwrist tiltrotator and full GPS. “The Steelwrist is a bucket with 360° rotation and 45° tilt left, right, forward, and backward. It does everything bar make a cup of tea.” The precision offered by this technology, combined with the GPS means Haycock Construction has gained efficiency, and Mike isn’t one to stand in the way of progress. “The GPS is certainly a great thing. When you’re doing your first trim, you’re actually doing your final trim. You’re cutting it all out in one fell swoop, saving time and effort and fuel and money.” While Mike steers away from giving cockies advice, he will try to work with them to retire a bit of marginal land to help reduce erosion and sediment runoff into waterways. And he won’t do a half-pie job of it, he’ll do a proper job of building a dam, fencing it off, and retiring it so the farm can be managed more effectively. Mike farms 500 acres himself and he knows firsthand that environmental regulation is the biggest roadblock in the rural sector. “There are some bad policies out there but there are also some really good people who are trying really hard, planting thousands of native trees, and trying to clean up the waterways,” he says. “While we’re out there knocking trees over and digging dirt, we want to do it with as least environmental impact as possible and safe practices. We want to look after our team and train the new people who are coming through. If that means keeping the kids in the yard, washing machines and shifting the gear around the yard, then that’s what we’ll do, and they may be the industry’s next top operator.” “Part of my criteria and my decision making around buying new machines has been their Co2 emissions.” • WORKSHOP • FIELD SERVICE • UNDERCARRIAGE REBUILD • ENGINEERING / FABRICATION • HYDRAULIC HOSING 477 Rangitikei Line, Palmerston North • 0800 KOMATSU • 027 449 1605 • www.machineryspecialists.co.nz
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