Agribusiness man of the year shares secrets of business success

In a time when dairying is number one in land use, it is ironic the Federated farmers Agribusiness person of the year is a sheep farmer and sheep processor. This article gives us some secrets to Craig Hicksons success and also shares his views on why wool has failed to fire.

He is critical of lack of marketing for wool and use of the auction system which he believes has created a disconnect with producers and the market. The loss of the dry stock farming system to dairy has put huge pressure on sheep numbers and indeed all the sheep processing industry which needs through put to be profitable he says.

Wools of NZ and their Laneve brand was the template for the revival for wool but little has been heard of their progress since the launch.

Do your  agree with Craig Hickson on the issues of wools revival and are you committing to Wools of NZ and the Laneve brand with your wool this year?

Craig Hickson had no idea he would win agribusiness person of the year at the Federated Farmers awards in Auckland this week he told NBR ONLINE .  Modestly, he says he doesn't know why he won, but says innovation has long been a focus of his company, Progressive Meats, which he started with his wife in 1981. "The key to the success of the business has been through association and specialising.  We don't own trucks or rendering plants, which enables us to focus on processing.  That was a core component of our ability to focus on innovation, and we've become relatively good at it."

As well as being an astute agribusinessman, Mr Hickson has two university degrees, one in food technology from Massey University, and a Bachelor of Arts in economics and marketing from Victoria. He is now a well-known and accomplished member of the sector, being a director of Ovation New Zealand and several other meat companies, as well as siting on the boards of Beef+Lamb NZ Ltd and Ovita Ltd. 

Chairman of Beef+Lamb, Mike Peterson, says Mr Hickson's success is due to his focus on productivity, aiming for 25% efficiency on everything he is involved with.   Mr Peterson says it is hard to make a decent profit out of processing. "It's like running an airline - if you don't fill the airplane seats, you don't make any money.  He says Mr Hickson's secret has been staying away from exporting, and he has been able to provide a niche service for exporters who didn't want to be processing."

Mr Hickson says wool is being “out-marketed” by other industries in the agriculture sector. He says there is also a disconnect in NZ between wool producers and the market, largely because of the system requiring wool to be auctioned, which prevents a direct connection between producers and consumers.

The lamb sector is doing a better job of selling itself, says Mr Hickson.“They have farmer meetings, they educate their producers with regard to consumer needs, they tell them where the product is being sold and what the consumer likes and dislikes about the product.

“The wool sector needs to develop something similar”, he says.“I don’t think lamb can do it on its own. Lamb had improved six times since the early 1980s, and productivity has improved dramatically. “But wool has been nowhere near, it’s just lost a whole heap of ground, and it’s inherently a good product with specific applications, but it’s just been out-marketed.”

Sheep farmers have also switched their focus from wool to sheep meat, as meat prices have risen while wool prices fall. Mr Hickson says the trend of converting dry stock farms into dairy is also hurting the industry. “For those who earn their livings associated with the procurement processing and exporting of sheep meat, there’s a lot of concern about the conversion.

Mr Hickson says  the beef and lamb industry needs to make dry stock farming attractive again. He says part of that is improving the marketing power of wool. This was given a major boost late last year when Wools of NZ Trust was given the funding to buy the Wools of NZ and Laneve brands from PGG Wrightson Wool.