Entering into a farming partnership is a big decision and it’s important to ensure it’s the right fit for you and your family. We ask three rural professionals for their advice around building strong partnerships that achieve good outcomes for all parties.

With the right people and the right business structures, equity partnerships can be a win–win for all parties. They can allow retiring farmers to remain on their farm and in their community while offering a young family the opportunity to realise their farming goals. They can also allow established farmers to partner with investors to grow a land-based business. Sandra Taylor talks to three Mid-Canterbury farmers who are part of two successful, but very different equity partnerships.

Muller Station has won the Marlborough Farmer of the Year title. It’s not just off the back of their highly profitable sheep, but
for creating a pasture powerhouse out of hieracium- and rabbit-infested country. With Steve Satterthwaite at the helm for a half-century, Muller has taken up the best of the new and safeguards the cherished high-country traditions of the past. Words Jo Grigg, Photos Jim Tannock.

I joined our family seed business, Arthur Yates and Co, as a shy teenager in 1949, eventually becoming chief executive and managing director in 1973.

I was really drawn to this book’s title since moving to Methven and getting to experience that famous nor’wester wind, a powerful force that shapes much of the landscape’s character. Words Sarah Perriam-Lampp.

Read Country-Wide Autumn 2025 online here. Country-Wide is New Zealand’s only dedicated pastoral and arable farming magazine, available on subscription.

Nigel Woodhead runs a sheep, beef and production forestry farm near Milton in Otago with his wife Leanne and children Sienna, six and Finn, four. 

Legendary helicopter pilot and ground culler reflects on a wild time in the establishment of the deer industry. Words Dick Deaker. Photos Barry Harcourt & Garry Hollows.

Farm planning for deer farmers must allow for flexibility and the unique challenges of farming deer, but a good farm plan can help provide proof of best practice for our markets. Words Rebecca Greaves.