The national council meets quarterly to consider matters of industry interest as well as issues raised by the regional branches.
Within the national council there are six sub-committees covering: health and safety, transport, fertiliser and lime, training, membership and Spreadmark.
The regional branches meet regularly and set their own agendas. Each branch elects its own chairman and committee members.
Keep up to date with what’s happening with Groundspread NZ (NZGFA).
Simon is the owner/operator of Himatangi Transport in Horowhenua/Manawatu, a family business established in 1976. Simon is the first inter-generational president with his father Lance being in the top seat from 1990-1993. Simon is no stranger to being on council himself, previously holding the role of VP when he was last at the table.
Simon first became involved with council to help move the industry forward and this has not changed. He believes that Groundspread NZ is important in leading our industry, particularly through uncertain times such as the increased regulation we are experiencing at present. He encourages stronger member communication to help ensure that council are progressing the work that means the most to members.
In his rare spare time, Simon loves water skiing, water sports, riding his motorcycle and spending time in Australia with his grandchildren.
Members can contact Simon via email at president@groundspreadnz.com or 027 221 9481.
Stephen works for HWR Richardson Group in Otago/Southland and came back onto council in 2021 with a passion to develop and improve the groundspread industry.
Steve’s passion for training in the industry has recently seen him take on a new role Driver Trainer role that harnesses that passion. He is committed to assisting, developing, growing, (and now delivering) training in the industry to continually improve the current workforce and to attract newcomers to the industry.
He sees the council’s role to be one of deep engagement with members and assisting them by sharing his skills and knowledge of the industry, while trying to learn more himself from others. He believes that Groundspread NZ plays a crucial role in ensuring that our industry has a say in developing sustainable regulations/guidelines, so we are not in a position of having them imposed on us. This means that networking is crucial to continue our growth and learnings as an industry.
Members can contact Steve via email at training@groundspreadnz.com or 027 445 2443.
Lee is back in the game! He is now the General Manager of the Sandford Group based in Taranaki. Lee first became involved in National Council back in 2017 when he was ‘voluntold’ at a branch AGM, and he hasn’t looked back.
Lee’s long involvement means that he was involved in the Association’s Strategic Plan development from day one and says that the journey thus far has been well worth seeing through. In his VP role, he brings business management and leadership skills, industry knowledge and professionalism to support the National Council and the wider membership to Lead, Promote and Enhance Groundspread NZ into the future.
Lee is dedicated to being part of the Spreadmark portfolio, (like all portfolios) Spreadmark is an integral part of our Association. For some time now, Spreadmark has been a frustration of Lee’s in terms of value for our members and the stagnation of the scheme over the past 20 years after all the work done by our forefathers to create the scheme 30 years ago. It is Lee’s personal challenge (along with his portfolio partners Kylie Owen and Rob Hammond) to bring Spreadmark back to life for our association. A quality assurance program that is recognised by all end users.
Members can contact Lee via email at taranaki@groundspreadnz.com or 027 431 3018.
Kelly Thomas, General Manager of RTA Contracting, has been in the groundspread game for over 20 years. With her husband Ryan, she’s run a successful agricultural contracting business and has picked up a lot of wisdom about how our work supports agriculture, horticulture, and rural communities.
Kelly joined the Groundspread NZ National Council to help guide the industry’s future and keep it thriving. She believes Groundspread NZ is fantastic for the industry, providing a united voice, a great support network, and setting high professional standards that benefit everyone.
Similarly to Paul, with members being at the heart of everything the council is trying to achieve, the Membership portfolio was a natural fit for Kelly. To better support members, Kelly’s all about keeping the lines of communication open. She encourages everyone to share their thoughts, whether they’re positive or constructive, because your feedback is key to driving real change and helping us all succeed together.
Members can contact Kelly via email at membership@groundspreadnz.com or 021 813 420.
Jessie has been employed at Sandfords for the last ten years in a variety of roles including Livestock Manager, Health and Safety and Human Resources Manager. Jessie’s background is dairy farming having previously been a 50/50 sharemilker with her husband Ed. Her first passion in the transport industry was/is livestock but we won’t hold that against her.
Jessie became involved with the Taranaki branch from a Health and Safety perspective and was coincidently then allocated the H&S portfolio for National Council in 2022.
She sees this role benefitting members by ensuring that everyone is kept up to date on changes and being able to collect and collate a unified member voice when issues and concerns are raised. She needs members help and communication on this front, so please don’t be shy.
Jessie has created an exceptional H&S toolkit for members which is available on the website and plans to tackle the wellbeing side of her Health and Safety portfolio this year so watch this space!
Jessie is looking forward to getting involved with the upcoming creation of the TruckSafe program to ensure that we, as an industry, are included, recognised, and valued in this.
Members can contact Jessie via email at h&s@groundspreadnz.com or 027 417 7087.
Jen is the director/manager of the fert division at Renwick Transport. Jen and sister Jax have owned the company since December 2021, proudly carrying on the family business after losing their dad in 2019. Jen was nominated into the role of council delegate when she missed her branch AGM in May 2023 but took it in her stride and has bought a lot to the national table.
Jen got thrown in the deep end at the Members’ Day when she had to take over facilitating the Workforce Development session at the last minute. However, she did great well outside her comfort zone, and it has sparked a passion, and she put her hand up to join Steve on this portfolio for the current season. There is a lot of work to be done too, so two people will help progress things along nicely, with Vocational Training being pulled apart by the government and pieced back to together, a new Spreadmark COP needing training, micro-credentials still seeking a provider in the unsettled environment, GroundED 2025 to name just a few!
Jen is the Mum of two busy girls aged 10 and 8. If they aren’t busy with netball, volleyball or away for gymnastics competitions, then they love to hang out with family and head out jet skiing. Jen loves trucks and machinery and is a bit of a beginner petrol head who attends car enthusiast events with her mustang!
Members can contact Jen via email at transport@groundspreadnz.com or 027 543 6908.
Kylie works for Graymont as an Account Manager and joined the National Council in 2022.
Kylie believes that there is a crucial link between Groundspread NZ, our farmers, our industry, and our regulators; we are joint custodians of the land and therefore relationships and technology are imperative to our joint success in the primary sector.
Kylie became involved in the Spreadmark Code of Practice (COP) review in early 2023 and understands the value of advocating for the scheme throughout the wider sector. Her and Lee have been asking a lot of questions about the scheme’s inception, going directly to the creators themselves and gathering an incredible amount of information to ensure that the history of the scheme is never lost. They have been assessing the present value of the scheme and asking what the future should/could look like.
Kylie has a BSc in Geology and (believe it or not) has three grandchildren – Hunter, Alice and Hudson and has committed herself to running 5 marathons the year she turns 50 – there’s still plenty of training time and now it’s in writing she has to follow through.
Please give Kylie a call if you would like to add your thoughts or ideas to the work they are doing with Spreadmark, this is YOUR scheme and now is the time to provide feedback for the Fertiliser Quality Council to consider in this COP review.
Members can contact Kylie via email at spreadmark@groundspreadnz.com or 022 639 1711.
Paul is the owner/operator of Highfield Transport in Ashburton. He has been involved in the industry for many years and always enjoyed the networking and knowledge shared through branch meetings, conferences and Gala events. This networking has helped him in his business a lot and he wanted to try and give something back to the Association and industry by taking on a role on the National Council.
Paul believes the Association is important and that communication is key; sharing problems, issues and solutions in the industry enables better outcomes for everyone and collective improvements. Collectively, whether the issues be environmental, products, or legislation, having a strong and collective industry voice means that we will hopefully achieve more for our members.
Paul brings with him a wealth of experience from other volunteer positions he had held. He is deeply involved with New Zealand Search and Rescue due to his passion for helping others in need and was recently awarded Life Membership of the Rakaia Search and Rescue branch.
His passion for helping others means that he naturally fell into the Membership portfolio and comes with many fresh ideas for connecting members to their national association – watch this space!
Members can contact Paul via email at paul.fiona59@gmail.com or 021 921 920 (phone is best for Paul).
Rob is no stranger to the membership, having been a member for more than 20 years in the Central Districts branch.
Rob has strong views and likes to challenge ideas and systems. He has been pretty public about his opinion on Spreadmark and the lack of value it would add to his business. Kylie and Lee quickly pulled Rob onto the Spreadmark portfolio as the perfect litmus test for the work they are doing; if Rob can offer insight and direction about how to improve Spreadmark (and maybe even become accredited) then they will know that they have achieved success in that portfolio.
Rob was pretty clear that he was only on council because nobody else wanted the role, but he survived his first few council meetings just fine and offers a passionate and interesting perspective that every board should be so lucky to have… to function well for the members and be challenged to be their best. Rob is passionate about our industry having a string, well-informed and progressive voice to lobby strategic partners and ensure the future of our industry.
Surprisingly, Rob is very well versed in Artificial Intelligence (among many many things) and the impact that AI can have on your business. Hammond Spreading has an AI policy now, how forward thinking is that!
Members can contact Rob via email at hammondspreading@xtra.co.nz or 027 443 2474 (phone is best for Rob).
