NEW Zealand dairy high flier Jim van der Poel believes in the merits of an early farm succession plan.
The recently retired Fonterra director said it was essential to grow "keen young people" in family environments or farming partnerships "with a warm heart while you're still alive, rather than giving them a cold hand as you die".
His own family's business started from a South Island contract milking partnership and now includes a joint venture across 4300 hectares with 4700 cows on the South Island; 3000 cows in the North Island's Waikato, and a 3000-cow partnership in the US.
While he conceded the capital cost needed to get into farming was a huge barrier for young farmers, share milking in NZ, or similar share farming partnerships elsewhere, still provided good foundations for growth, as long as both partners had a win-win philosophy.
"It's not a shortage of capital that's the issue here, it's how well different individuals put it to use," he said.
