NZ Dairy Autumn 2021

104 | nz dairy DAIRY SERVICES » Capper Contracting Contractor proud of 40-year service Photos: Hedge trimming is a service that Trevor Capper likes to get just right. A new harvester makes short work of a maize crop. Richard Loader H alf way between Morrinsville and Paeroa, Capper Contracting (1981) Ltd sits at the foot of Mount Te Aroha — the mountain of love, and the highest point in the Kaimai Range. This year, the business will celebrate forty years servicing dairy farmers in the district, an achieve- ment Trevor Capper is very proud of. Through hard work, long hours and the support of his wife Maree, Capper Contracting has evolved from a small one-man operation doing hedge cut- ting and some grass silage with a side mounted si- larator and old Nuffield/Leyland tractor, to a diverse operation and two and a half million dollars worth of agricultural machinery. “We now have a modern fleet of contracting and hedge trimming machinery,” says Trevor. “The machinery ranges from maize harvesters, balers, under sowers, loader wagons for grass silage and about nineteen tractors currently in work. “The main workhorses are Valtra tractors ranging from 250-horse back to 190-horse. We do grass silage with the harvester as well. We do anything from cultivation, re-grassing, maize planting and harvesting and all the groundwork that goes with that, along with hedge cutting.” Operating Capper Mulchers (1981) Ltd, in parallel with the contracting business, now managed by Trevor and Maree’s youngest son Steven, two brand new hedge cutters on Massey Fergusson tractors have recently been added to the fleet. All machinery is serviced during the winter months to ensure continued reliability for Trevor’s customers. One of the big changes Trevor has noticed is the reduction in small hay bales. “In the ‘80s we used to do 50,000 and now we do five or six thousand — the bigger bales have taken over.” Reflecting on his passion for the work that has really been his life for the last forty years, Trevor says while he enjoys all the agricultural contracting work, he has a special love for trimming hedges. “There is a lot of satisfaction when you put a nice straight line on a hedge. There is nothing quite like that, mainly because what I leave behind stands out for several months, and I take a lot of pride in that. I trim anything from 12-month-old hedges to well established fifty year old hedges. We are starting to do the hedge trimming all year round now but the main lot is between January through to August.” While a number of farmers that Trevor used to work for have moved on in recent years, he still regularly visits many of the original farmers who have remained loyal for the past four decades. “Building and maintaining relationships has been important to my business and important to me personally. I’m a real people person. I get on with all my clients. “We have a lot of outside contractors coming into the district but there is wonderful loyalty with our clients. I think also providing quality work, keeping in touch with my clients and providing them with a fair deal have been very important to our success over the years.” Trevor attributes much of the success of both the contracting and hedge cutting businesses to his wife Maree and her unyielding support. “Maree does all the bookwork for the business. Over the years she has brought meals out when we were working late and spare parts when we broke down. We’ve been a great team. If it wasn’t for Maree we would not have got as far as we have with the business.” All six of Trevor and Maree’s children have worked in the business at one stage or another. In addition to Steven, Kenneth is currently a casual driver in the business and daughter Nicola is thinking about taking on some machine driving this year. Trevor says while he remains fit and healthy he has no thought of retirement and indeed while he works he remains fit and healthy. “Maree does all the bookwork for the business. Over the years she has brought meals out when we were working late and spare parts when we broke down. We’ve been a great team.” 490 Te Ngae Road, Rotorua I 07 345 8560 Service Manager Simon Levings | Parts Manager Glen Autridge | Contact 07 889 7055 | 24/7 Mike Kitching 021 735 665 I Glenn Greay 021 862 169 I Todd Hewitt 020 194 5817 www.piakotractors.co.nz Thank you for being a Piako Tractors customer. Proud to support Capper Contracting Precision & General Engineering CNC Machining, Turning, Milling, Drilling, Welding, Rolling, Plasma Cutting, Profile cutting and CAD drawing and design. (07) 888 8075 colchester.co.nz SEE US FOR SPECIALIST ADVICE ON: WE’RE PROUD OF OUR RURAL TIES • Asset Protection & Estate Planning • Business Advisory & Development • Rural Accounting Compliance • Business Appraisals & Valuations • Trust & Company Administration • Staffing & Employment Agreements MORRINSVILLE 298 Thames Street Phone 07 280 5519 TE AROHA 51-61 Whitaker St Phone 07 884 8055