Commencing 1st of June 2017, Milk New Zealand formally adopted our farm brand “Theland Farm Group” that encompass our 29 farms across New Zealand. Our talented Theland Farm Group team are focused on adding value – the objective is to continue to seek out opportunities to add value to the people who work with us, to the land we farm and the communities we farm within.
Our underlying strategy is to grow our asset value, with the asset being described as our people, our community, our environment and our farms. The Operating Plan has 5 critical focus platforms – People, Profit, Productivity, Asset and Growth.
Theland Farm Group brings together the North Island 16 farms known as “Tahi Farm Group” with the South Island 13 farms knows as “Purata Farm Group”. The national Theland Farm Group is led by a nationally focused Senior Leadership Team and Business Support Group with area-based Operations Managers supporting the day to day management of the farms. A one national business approach is being led to create a one team approach to the business. The well-established Purata Farm Group provides the foundation to culture, systems and policy. A key component to this is the “continual improvement” culture and approach to management that will provide a platform to identify our opportunities, big and small, to improve. Our current Operating Plan is focused on understanding where the opportunities are to improve, how we can keep producing great quality milk for our consumers in New Zealand and China while improving our sustainability and enhancing the impact we have in our local communities and environments.
The 29 farms are made up of the Theland Tahi Farm Group, 16 farms in the North Island, and Theland Purata Farm Group which has 13 farms in the Canterbury region of the South Island.
The 16 Tahi Farm Group properties consist of 13 dairy farms and three dairy support farms in various locations around the North Island between Hamilton and Bulls with 9 dairy farms in the greater Taupo region.
Purata Farm Group consists of 12 irrigated dairy farms and 1 irrigated dairy support farm, as of June 2017 four are certified as Gold Plus suppliers for Synlait Milk.
In November 2016 Theland Purata Farm Group Limited obtained secondary ACC accreditation and in February 2017 Theland Tahi Farm Group received primary ACC accreditation for the Taharua farm which is already managed by Theland Farm Group. This recognised the systems, processes and culture of health and safety that is in place in the business.
As of to date, we own and operate:
Since 2013, over NZD 30 million dollars has been injected to improve the “Theland Farm Group” experience of our people, our environment and our communities.
The ‘before and after’ photographs below show some of the transformation on our 16 Central North Island Farms from 2012 when purchased, and some of the improvements which have been undertaken since purchase.
Milk New Zealand is the operating arm of Shanghai Pengxin Group and Hunan Dakang Food and Agriculture Co., Limited.
In 2012, after two years of controversy over the North Island farm acquisition, the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) finally approved our ownership for the 16 farms out of the 22 Crafar farms for sale at that time. A joint venture was developed with Landcorp Farming Limited (Landcorp) forming Pengxin New Zealand Farm Management Limited (PNZFML). This Joint Venture provided for a commercial management arrangement with Landcorp where Landcorp effectively 50% sharemilked the properties and then also contract-managed the overall business and provided capital project management.
In 2014,Shanghai Pengxin Group entered into a joint venture with two of the company’s original founding shareholders of the Synlait Farm operation in Canterbury. In February 2016, Shanghai Pengxin Group became the sole owner of the properties buying out the original founding shareholders, forming the now Theland Purata Farm Group Limited.
- TeRuaki pa site (computer register TNC1/383).
- Transfer of the Nga Herenga pa site to the Crown.
- Retire the Ng Herenga pa site from grazing and erect fencing to protect this site for the future.
- Further development will be undertaken to protect and enhance historic and cultural heritage.
- Public walking access will be designed and developed across nominated areas of some of the farms.
