Business Rural North Summer 2021

60 | Efficient contracting for Northlanders Vuletich Contracting’s Warren Vuletich, Eden Vuletich, Jacob Hibbert, James Mcarthur and Zara Vuletich. Kim Newth RURAL SERVICES» Vuletich Contracting Ltd O perating out of Pakotai in Northland’s Man- gakahia Valley, Vuletich Contracting offers a wide range of agricultural contracting servic- es including silage, hay, cultivation, planting, spray- ing, mulching, fencing and feed sales. “We’re nice and central in Northland,” says Opera- tions Manager Eden Vuletich, who owns and operates the business with his parents, Warren and Diane. Vuletich Contracting is a convenient choice for rural communities from Kaipara to Whangarei and the Far North. Warren has extensive experience in automotive engineering and keeps all equipment in excellent working order. He is quick to respond to any break- downs with the right tools and experience. This is a reassurance to farmers who don’t want delays due to mechanical failures. “Dad also provides the team with training on the go so we can assist him with repairs and maintenance.” The real starting point in agricultural contracting for Eden was spending several seasons working in Western Australia’s wheat belt some five years ago. He worked long hours in a large-scale cropping operation, growing various cereal crops. Not only was this an excellent training ground, it also enabled Eden to build the capital needed to go into business with his parents on a 50/50 basis. Vuletich Contracting has grown rapidly since then, both in scale and the range of services offered. Over the past three years, the operation has expanded into growing feed for on-selling by progressively purchas- ing and leasing pockets of land. Over the quiet winter months, this is used for grazing cattle. One of the benefits is that the company can now employ staff full-time year-round without having to re-hire at the start of every season. “It is hard to attract good people to contracting if you can only employ them for eight or nine months of the year. We’ve been trying to solve this problem; this is one way of the ways we plan on doing so. There are now four of us working full-time, along with three seasonal staff.” The Vuletich family has been farming in Pakotai for the past 20 years and started the business to fill a need at that time for a reliable, honest and efficient rural contractor. The family purchased their first baler in 2013. Vuletich Contracting now provides a fleet of six Deutz-Fahr tractors, with GPS technology for preci- sion delivery and equipped with various attachments to serve the Northland community. A new addition this spring is a McHale Fusion 3 Plus baler that has on-board scales and moisture reading technology. It can generate a print-out at the end of each job detailing the average weight of every bale produced and the dry matter content of bales made. “It really takes the guess work out of it for farmers – we’re pretty excited about our new baler!” With farmers’ planning for summer crops in full swing, Eden is grateful for his hard working, passion- ate team who step up to ensure the business can operate 24/7 at these busy times of the year. “Weather is one of our biggest challenges; we have to be prepared to put in the hours when condi- tions are right. We are committed to doing a quality job for our clients and really enjoy helping people in our rural sector. Every job is important to us, no job is too big or too small.” For a quality, reliable and honest service, get in contact with Vuletich Contracting. “We have to be prepared to put in the hours when conditions are right.” Te Whare Kaitiaki P tea Whai Mana o Aotearoa An amazing service for a great price Bookkeeping and Accounting servicing all of NZ rural clients using Xero, Figured and Paysauce. 09 4389 163 Proud to support Vuletich Contracting