SF DEMO PGG Wrightson 175 Years
PGG Wrightson marks a milestone that stretches from New Zealand’s earliest coastal trading days to today’s digitally enabled rural services network. Words Sarah Perriam-Lampp.
In 2026, PGG Wrightson is celebrating its 175 year involvement with farming in New Zealand. Chief Executive, Stephen Guerin, likens the company’s heritage to a braided river, formed from multiple legacy businesses that have merged over time to create the PGG Wrightson of today.
“We have got multiple parts to our history which also reflects the history of rural New Zealand,” says Stephen.
The story begins with George Gould in Canterbury, supplying merchandise to local farming communities – a thread that still runs through the business today.
Across 175 years, PGG Wrightson has helped farmers navigate economic cycles, weather events, and social upheaval from the Depression to COVID-19, evolving its services along the way. From walking cattle to market to deploying digital auction platforms in saleyards nationwide, the company’s history also mirrors wider social change, including gender diversity in rural business.
Wright Stephenson & Co Ltd – Dunedin Branch, Otago: 1900 Balfour Agency – grain store and office, in centre of Waimea plains, Circa 1900. Fletcher Archives.
Over 175 years the company and its customers have walked side by side. D.W.J. Gould’s famous comments from 1969 still ring true when he said company and customers’ interests are closely aligned. When customers prosper or face challenging times so too does the company.
As PGG Wrightson marks 175 years, the celebrations are firmly on honoring the past while Stephen and his team are focused on accelerating innovation in areas like livestock platforms, wool marketing and rural finance, ensuring the business remains as relevant to tomorrow’s farmers as it was to the first settlers it served.
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