| 51 RURAL SERVICES » Mainland Group End-to-end stock agency services Richard Loader FOR SALE: • 100 quality ‘fully recorded’ R 1-yr heifers • 20 R 1-yr heifers • In-calf herd for sale • In-calf heifers for sale Proud to give young up-and-comers a go: Good on ya Dallas & Cayla! West Coast & South Island agents for dairy & dairy beef Phil Struthers - 20/20 Livestock Director 027 247 6754 2020livestock@xtra.co.nz Evolution is the key to survival and since its rst foray into business, Mid-Canterbury’s Mainland Group has evolved into three separate but interrelated businesses to provide its customers with the convenience of end-to-end stock agency services. “We started as Mainland Transport Ltd in 2018,” says owner/founder Dallas Gerken. “We had one truck set up as a swap body unit for bulk cartage as well as stock transport. That has evolved to focus solely on livestock. In 2019 we established Mainland Pastures to buy, sell and cart our own livestock to keep our trucks busy.” At the end of last year Mainland Animal Health was added to the business stable with mobile crutching trailers and mobile conveyors, enabling a wide cross section of services including tailing to be provided on farm. “Although our business is mainly based around cattle, the idea of Mainland Animal Health is that we can buy winter lambs for our clients, cart them in, do all the animal health work and then cart them out for processing at a later stage. “So we have become a one-stop-shop, adding value to our clients over transport, livestock sales and animal health. “ If you don’t evolve as a business you won’t survive. With transport there’s more and more pressure every day with the cost of fuel. Because we’re carting our own stock that we’re buying and selling, we have a lot of control over the rates that the trucks run for and provide a delivered price to our North Island clients.” Based between Ashburton and Methven in Winchmore, Mainland Group operates throughout the South Island, mainly buying store cattle, then selling and transporting them to farms throughout the North Island from the Wairarapa/Manawatu/ Hawke’s Bay regions right up to Northland. Mainland Transport loading stock. Mainland Animal Health was added to the business stable at the end of last year, with mobile crutching trailers and mobile conveyors. “We also buy a lot of cull cows, which we put out to different grazing blocks till after the winter when they go for processing,” says Dallas. Mainland Transport operates two modern Scania livestock trucks, and contracts other reputable carriers as the workload demands. “We have two full time drivers along with two relief drivers enabling us to operate seven days a week for our clients. Up to seven staff are involved in doing the animal health work and I also have stock agents for the buying and selling of stock.” Over the last four years Dallas and his team have built up strong relationships with the company’s rural customer base along with the livestock companies. “We have clients who have been with us since day one. We’re buying so many animals you have to network and we’ve also built up really good relations with companies like PGG Wrightons and Rural Livestock who provide that degree of separation. But there are many farmers I deal directly with. “Whether it’s buying or selling it is always about providing our customers with a fair deal and an ef cient operation. We move quickly and that’s another thing we have up our sleeve. We can do a deal today and be on the road tomorrow.” Mainland Group owner Dallas Gerken crutching. “If you don’t evolve as a business you won’t survive.”
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