| 47 Full Veterinary Services Available 24/7 FOR ALL YOUR ANIMAL HEALTH NEEDS Heriot 03 204 2255 22 Roxburgh Street 8.30am - 5.00pm Monday - Friday Gore 03 208 0140 36 Hokonui Drive 8.00am - 5.30pm Monday - Friday Proud to support Cleland Contracting Loyal client base key for contractor Jason and Joy are on a third generation sheep and beef farm and started their contracting arm 25 years ago. Kelly Deeks RURAL SERVICES » Cleland Contracting • Farming • Building & Construction • Business • Personal Insurances For Specialist Local Knowledge & Advice contact us at: Level 1, 33 Gala Street, Invercargill 03 211 3018 For all your insurance needs 108 Main Street, Gore 03 203 3220 admin@ibal.co.nz Yardley Lo Specialise in a range of Accounting services - from Business, Farm Accountancy to Tax solutions. In the tight-knit community of Waikaka, Southland, sheep and beef farmers Jason and Joy Cleland with their contracting business Cleland Contracting, have a valued loyal customer base nice and close to home, as they travel less than 20km to help likeminded farmers with their provide cultivation and baleage needs. Jason and Joy are on a third generation sheep and beef farm and started their contracting arm 25 years ago. Buying an existing business with one plough, one baler, and two tractors from a neighbour, Jason has expanded Cleland Contracting over the years, picking up new clients, adding one full-time staff member, and doubling his fleet. “We’ve got a nice loyal client base,” he says. “We get to know all of our clients very well. We see them once a week and it gives us a great understanding of their systems and their requirements. We do a good job for them and they always have us back.” Jason says it’s been a pretty awful season for contracting due to a couple of really good growing seasons providing a feed surplus so farmers have cut back on their planting this year. But good growing seasons is good news for Jason and Joy’s farm, where they have recently been killing lambs at 22kg and 25kg. Their cattle are dragging the chain a bit this year, with Jason having to source a different line of cattle than the usual line from Glen Islay Station that have proven themselves to Jason and he tries to buy them every year. “I got outbid so we had to go elsewhere and these have been a bit slow-growing. We’re back to Glen Islay cattle now so that’s a bonus for next year.” With Jason approaching his 50th birthday, and the eldest of his three kids now an adult at 19, the Clelands are starting to look to the future. They have recently purchased another 135 acres from the same neighbour Jason bought the contracting business from 25 years ago and they take over the property on June 4. “We’ve got three kids 19, 15, and 11, and we’re going to need something down the track for them. This new property gives us a bit more land and another house, and we’ve very happy we’ve been able to expand locally.” Meanwhile Joy, who has been a key part of Cleland Contracting for 25 years, has now gone to work at Farmlands in Gore and is enjoying every minute of it. It is currently tough times in the sheep and beef sector with low meat prices and rapidly increasing costs. Fuel is a big one for Cleland Contracting but Jason sees some more competition coming into the marketplace which could bring some relief in the next few months. He is mindful of his clients all facing the same financial challenges and ensures his contracting services are bringing a good amount of value to their operations. “We like to do a good job, keep everything tidy, take our time and do it properly. The biggest thing for us is knowing our customers very well and understanding what they need.”
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