| 29 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT - SOUTH CANTERBURY Silver Fern Farms Pareora Opposite page: Early days - the Pareora opening 1904; above, the plant is situated on the coastline 16 kilometres south of Timaru. That South Canterbury agricultural contractor Kinsman Contracting was forged and shaped on the anvil of hard work is beyond question and the loyalty of its large customer base re lects that. Equipped with a single baler, the business was established by Waimate farmers Jenny and David Kinsman about 35 years ago, back in the day when interest rates spiraled above 20%. Their son Grant joined them in the business 27 years ago, taking it over in the early 2000s. “Dad was a hellova hard worker,” says Grant. “We’re a very hard working family.” From those early days Kinsman Contracting has grown with the evolution of the dairy industry in South Canterbury, which now accounts for about 80% of the work. “We still do some work in sheep and beef. We’re involved in all aspects of agricultural contracting from ground work, precision planting and drilling, forage harvesting and round and square baling, and cartage. Fourteen years ago we diversi ied into potatoes and dig potatoes for a couple of Ashburton farmers in the o -season. That’s up to about 50,000 tonnes of potatoes now. We also cart most of them to be processed.” All agricultural operations are supported by a full complement of agricultural machinery, including 20 Kinsman Contracting tractors, 18 Volvo trucks, silage choppers, balers, and all the ancillary equipment that goes with it. Grant re lects that Kinsman Contracting is now in its 14th year contracting to Silver Fern Farms on its Pareora farm. “Robert Grant is the manager on that farm and he has been very good to work with. We’re the exclusive contractor for that farm, and it has been a very good relationship over a long period of time.” About 15 years ago Grant relocated the main base to Temuka, central to the company’s primary activities around South Canterbury. Eighty percent of work is below Timaru. The company has also started to stretch into the Mackenzie Country. A satellite yard in St Andrews provides a fuel source, and a workshop in Waimate ensures machinery is well maintained. Employing 15 full time sta and growing to 60 during the potato digging season, Grant says with the international borders closed and di iculties accessing overseas workers the year has been a battle. “You can’t give up. You just have to battle on and you always get there in the end. I have a very good operations manager in Jamie Barlow who looks after all our customers now. His knowledge around contracting and machinery is an absolute asset to the team.”
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