Diploma programme life changing for farming couple
16 August 2019
Waikato dairy farmer Emma Crawford says training for an agribusiness diploma has been life changing for her and husband Josh, who are now reaping the benefits of her new skills to run a successful business.
The mother of three and former early childhood teacher completed the diploma in Agribusiness Management over six years as she balanced raising a young family and work on the farm. “It has definitely been life changing and worth all the sweat and tears.”
Emma and Josh, a qualified engineer, run their own dairy milking herd on 60 hectares of leased land at Gordonton near Morrinsville. Back in 2014 when they were both working in other careers, they took an opportunity to go contract milking on Josh’s family farm.
“Going to dairy farming was a bit of a shock. I had no experience dealing with the books or GST. Doing the course has definitely helped,” says Emma.
Now with their own herd of 180 milkers and 40 heifers, Emma’s responsible for the finances, human resources, health and safety and networking, while Josh manages the stock and all outside aspects of the farm.
“It’s a team thing now. The knowledge I can bring now has helped build our working relationship.”
“Without this course we could not have gone from contract milking to leasing a farm. The decisions we make now are based on our goals. I don’t think we could have got to that stage without doing the study.”
The Business Planning and Management part of the course has set them up for success despite the challenges that come with a seasonal and weather dependent business.
“We plan for a drought so we set the goals of what we want to achieve and plan how we want to get there while building in risks. I never would have had that knowledge without the diploma behind me.”
Emma says one of the biggest gains from the course was making contacts and building her networks, which she says is really important due to the isolating nature of farming.
And the study has boosted her confidence in the community and at farmer discussion groups she attends. “I am a different person to who I was when I started the course. Before I was not confident to speak.”
“I can sit around the table with other local farmers and join in and contribute confidently now. We had a discussion on profitability recently and I was able to talk about equity and liabilities for example.”
Emma encourages other women in her position to take the course so they can have a more active role in the business. “Women can be seen and not heard kind of thing in farming but they bring a lot to a business.”
“This programme is the best thing for farming wives. When you are a team it makes a better business.”
Emma also enjoys using what she’s learnt in the Human Resource Management section of the diploma to help others. She shares her learnings with local farmers who strike challenges with recruiting and managing staff.
Her knowledge of employment law, contracts and recruiting has improved the quality of staff she hires and her acceptance as a boss. “When you have got that confidence you get that level of respect as well.”
Emma’s relieved to have completed the diploma even though it took longer than expected. “We’ve got dreams and we want to do what we can to get there by putting in the extra yards.”