NEW Zealand dairy high flier Jim van der Poel believes in the merits of an early farm succession plan.
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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.