18 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Hakirnic Farms Ltd A partnership built on trust and honesty Nic and Kirsty Verhoek were runners-up in the Waikato Share Farmer category at the 2025 Waikato Dairy Industry Awards. Karen Phelps Morrinsville dairy farming couple Kirsty and Nic Verhoek have spent the past six years developing a partnership that has not only allowed their business to grow but also supported the ambitions of their farm owner, Hans Geessink. “It’s a partnership that is built on trust and honesty,” says Kirsty. “It’s evolved over the years and we have good communication and a good understanding of each other’s roles. We’re like yin and yang in that we aren’t one without the other. It’s very complementary.” She adds that a key factor in the partnership has always been aligning goals. “Hans has always wanted to be the absentee owner. We have enabled that for him so he’s free to come and go as he pleases and take a more strategic role. This in turn has helped us expand and grow our business, which was our goal.” The Verhoeks, who were runners-up in the Waikato Share Farmer category at the 2025 Waikato Dairy Industry Awards, are now managing 1,350 cows across three farms, including a new lease on 250 hectares of support land starting 1 June. “The additional support land allows us to continue to have control over our replacement animals and how they are fed and grown and not have bobby calves, so every animal has a value. And it keeps us going on the journey of homegrown feed as we will grow additional maize here as well,” explains Kirsty. They says the expansion has gone smoothly so far. “It’s gone really well and we’ve been fortunate to have had good weather and a great team,” says Nic. The couple emphasise the role of their staff in making growth possible. “Growing the business has helped us to mitigate risk to our business and grow our existing team and keep providing them opportunities. For example, this coming season we will be promoting current staff into contract milking and farm manager roles. People are the foundation of it all and having happy staff and being able to support their goals is key,” says Kirsty. Balancing operational management with family life has been another milestone. “The challenge for us has been trying to elevate ourselves out of the day-to-day of the business to the higher-level strategic business making,” explains Nic. “It’s where we’ve had to go to increase our business. It’s been about supporting good people to do the job and accepting they will do things differently to you but will get the result in the end.” A goal for more time off farm has been reached: “This summer has been the first January we’ve been able to go away and spend that time with our children. For us that’s been a massive goal to tick off, having a fantastic team to hold the fort and being able to go away and not think about farming for a month has been really neat.” Kirsty, who also works as a senior science manager at Dairy NZ, contributes to high-level strategy along with Nic. She also handles accounts and payroll leaving Nic to take care of the day-to-day operations on the farms. Their complementary skills have allowed the Verhoeks to focus on both the technical and strategic aspects of farming to grow their business. admin@piakoagspraying.com Piako Ag Spraying Ltd “Putting our customers first.” CHARTER D ACCOUNTANT E Specialists in Farm Accounting • Cashflow Budgeting • Fonterra Shareholding Advice • Farm Sale & Purchase Advice • Equity Partnerships • GST • Livestock Valuation Options • Income Equalisation Pleased to support Hakirnic Farms Ltd www.hoogeveen.co.nz | office@hoogeveen.co.nz | 07 862 9090
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