Rabobank calls for executive programme applicants

The programme – which gives leading farmers from across Australia and New Zealand the opportunity to enhance their business management skills and take their enterprises forward – is open for applications for its 2014 course, starting in August.

Announcing the opening of applications for the 2014 program, Rabobank CEO New Zealand Ben Russell says farm management has evolved to become much more commercially focused than in the past, making it necessary for producers to think more strategically about how they run their operations.

"Today, farmers are becoming more commercial in their business management – primary producers have to think more strategically, manage many risks and develop their people skills and capability – and a big part of that evolution is investing in themselves in order to benefit their business," Russell says.

"The core of the executive development program is to focus on the commercial and strategic factors that farmers face today. They're getting bigger, more commercial, business-focused, with more employees working for them than ever before."

The programme, run in two separate modules over the course of one full year introduces participants to the latest practices in business management, leadership, strategy, finance, human resources, value chain management and marketing, and how these can be directly applied to their farm businesses.

Guy Goodeve, general manager of the Castlerock Farming Company – a 1640ha mixed farming enterprise of sheep, beef, deer and dairy support – completed the Executive Development Program last year.

With plans to develop and expand the farm enterprise, Goodeve says he wanted to invest in his management skills and capability in order to take Castlerock Farming Company to the "next level".

"During the Executive Development Program, I basically put one week aside to put everything I knew about the business on paper, to formulate a strategic business plan that would help take our company forward," he says.

"The lessons of the Rabobank program helped me to get these ideas and goals together, which I then presented to our advisory board back on-farm.

"At first glance, some of the figures and targets I had projected to our board were taken as almost 'over-ambitious', but now, 18 months later, now we're getting pretty close to the bulk of my targets and new targets are being set."

Through his learnings from the Rabobank Executive Development Program, Mr Goodeve said it became clear that he had been spending too much time "in the business, not on the business".
"As a result, we have a development program underway across the business at the moment which is taking place in several stages, so planning is a big focus right now as we manage that progress," he said.

"We have GPS-mapped everything and we're currently building a pivot irrigator with four more to follow. We are working our way through harvesting the pine trees converting the back country into cropping and grass. This expansion will continue into 2014."

Applications for Rabobank's 2014 Executive Development Program are open until Friday, May 30, with applicants accepted from across a range of commodities and geographical locations in Australia and New Zealand. Held in Sydney, the first module runs from August 17 to 22, with the second module taking place in July of next year.

Producers interested in an application form or any further information on the Rabobank Executive Development Program should visit www.rabobank.co.nz/bmp or contact Rabobank Business Programs manager Nerida Sweetapple on +61 2 8115 4139 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..