Tips From The Top

New Zealand’s top performing farms operate on seven principles according to Irish dairy consultant Dr Mary Kinston. Firstly: “Top farmers benchmark against other farm businesses. Eighty-five per cent of farm managers would have a financial budget with top quartile farmers more likely to network with other farmers.” Kinston says top farmers were confident in decision making and generally had more than five years experience in farm management. She said, some 55 per cent of top farmers would describe their milking parlour as up to date and reliable with a large proportion of the top farms managed by couples.