PKW kaimahi annual hui

The annual PKW Farms conference brings kaimahi, contract milkers and sharemilkers from across the rohe to celebrate the past year and look forward to the one to come.

The hui also provides the opportunity to share experiences and ideas, recognise excellence and make sure all staff are up to date with Incorporation strategy and governance decisions.

“The farming calendar is a busy one throughout the year and so the annual conference is a chance for us to pause, reflect and acknowledge the ups and downs of the past season,” says Shane Miles, General Manager Ahuwhenua. “It’s also a chance for people to reconnect with each other.”

Philip Luscombe and Claire Nicholson, members of the PKW Farms Board, spoke about the strategic goal of being a ‘best in class’ Taranaki dairy farming business.

“It was great to have Philip and Claire at the conference so people could talk face to face with them about the future and where the business wants to go,” says Shane.

An integral part of how PKW is measuring its progress as a business is the Kaupapa Evaluation Tool (KET) and there was an opportunity to discuss with Joe Hanita, PKW Chief Financial Officer, how it worked.

“The great thing about KET is that it captures everything going on in the business so our kaimahi can see clearly that what they do each day has an influence on what happens at group level, “ says Shane.

A benchmarking exercise carried out by independent consultants BakerAg was also discussed, with the initial report suggesting that PKW farms are performing well.

“This positive feedback is indicative of the mahi that has been going on during previous years to get us to where we are now,” says Shane.

Fred McLay, Director of Resource Management at the TRC, also spoke, along with Soraya Ruakere-Forbes and Hoani Eriwata from Te Whenua Tōmuri Trust, who have just begun the awa monitoring project.

A new element to the conference, dubbed the Innovative Think-Tank, hopes to bring the considerable knowledge and experience the Farms team has together to forge new initiatives and share ideas.

“It was a great way of getting those conversations going and sparking off each other to find solutions for problems or new ways of doing things,” says Shane.

The 2019 PKW Farms Awards also took place (see side box for the winners), a way of recognising excellence inside the Farms team.

The annual PKW Farms awards are designed to recognise greatness and celebrate achievement.

Congratulations to:

Health & Safety - David (Boof) Wilson

Excellence In Reporting - Matt & Sarah Brittain

Special Achievement (Drystock) - Jon Smyth

Newcomer Award - Nigel Bright

Special Achievement (Dairy) - Lance & Mel Graves

Above image: David (Boof) Wilson

Above image: Matt Brittain

Above image: Jon Smyth

Above image: Nigel Bright