WORDS BY INDIANA ROBERTS
It all began back in 1963, when a group of farmers seeking a way to support agriculture and make farming life easier got together to form a co-operative that would become what we know today as Ruralco.
These innovative and ambitious farmers were Jack Brand, Gilbert Blair, Phil Curd, Alan Franks, Brian Lill, Eric Pilbrow and George Scarth. Together, they sought a way to achieve lower input costs in agriculture in order to make farming a more sustainable way of living, and so on March 13, 1963 Jack Brand held a meeting at his house, intent on “forming a rural co-operative society in the Ashburton County’’.
“I didn’t know a jolly thing,” Mr Brand, who passed in 2004, had said about the initial set up process. “It was definitely a case of being thrown in at the deep end.”
Mr Brand, who was president of the Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers at the time, sought sponsorship from the group, who were keen to see a farming co-operative started in the area.
“I was lucky to have the people involved with the South Canterbury co-operative available to consult about how to go about it,” Jack said. “The fact that they were established and successful inspired us to get going and to keep our enthusiasm to forge ahead.’’
On August 21, 1963, the Ashburton Trading Society supplier network was formed.
Mr Brand was appointed as the society’s first Chairman of the Board, and Jack Ross, from the accounting firm of Dalton and Ross, was appointed the first Secretary.
“A trading society was completely different to a normal business,” said Mr Ross back in the early 2000s, when recalling the day he accepted the role of secretary/accountant for the Ashburton Trading Society. “But it was exciting to be involved and, in many ways, it became my whole life.”
When the Ashburton Trading Society first began operating, agriculture was in a different era. Manual labour was more common than machine labour, and New Zealand’s most dominant agricultural sectors were sheep, beef, and arable farming. The government offered over 30 different production subsidies and export incentives that helped to support agriculture as an economic sector.
The Trading Society promptly sought to secure alliances with farm product suppliers that would help them achieve their goal of offering lower product prices for their members. Two known suppliers had already been flagged as potential allies, farm suppliers and auctioneers, R G Woodham and Co Ltd, and farm suppliers J Trevor Thomas. It was decided that they would be approached to see if they were interested in working with the Trading Society. It was also decided to contact the oil companies, as the Trading Society directors recognised how much impact any kind of reduction in fuel costs could have on members.
When the board met again, less than a month later, on September 4, 1963, Woodhams was already offering discounts to members. The society was registered, and for the first time, its common seal was stamped on the minutes.
Sixty years later, the Ruralco co-operative now boasts over 3,000 card merchants across New Zealand and has over 20,000 cardholders who use Ruralco to access competitive prices on quality products.
The co-operative has grown from a simple shop under the umbrella of Producers Ltd to independently owning and operating three busy and successful stores across Mid Canterbury, with close to 100 employees as well as an online store. Six decades have seen ten keen and passionate individuals take on the role of Chair of the Board, including Jessie Chan who became Ruralco’s first female Chair in 2020.
These individuals, among many others, have helped to guide Ruralco as a co-operative and have played their part in shaping it into the successful business it is today.
And the road has not always been easy; over the years, farmers and rural communities have faced many trials and tribulations, from droughts to floods, earthquakes to pandemics, snowstorms to subsidy losses and devastating financial crises.
Allan Lilley, a name you may be familiar with if you have ever frequented the Ashburton store over the last forty years, recalls many of the highs experienced in Mid Canterbury’s rural sector, as well as the lows. In particular, he remembers the strife that arose from Labour’s economic reforms in 1985, when almost overnight, the primary sector became the first in line to be de-regulated.
Allan, who, in 1982 had left farming to work for the Ashburton Trading Society in what was then-known as the Producers shop, understood the pain farmers were experiencing in the aftermath of the government’s reform. Various production subsidies and export incentives that farmers had previously benefitted from were phased out, despite New Zealand’s dependency on agricultural sector. This drastic change upheaved financial plans and put many farmers out of pocket. Allan recalled how disheartening it was to watch people he knew and considered friends forced out of family farms that had been handed down from generation to generation.
Ironically, Producers had a growth-spurt during this time because many farmers were forced to re-finance away from stock firms. At that time, the Rural Bank premises was just across the road from ATS (Producers). Allan recalled seeing farmers disillusioned with stock firms, going in to re-finance and, upon coming out, spotting ATS and signing up then and there.
The reforms signalled a shift in farming, with farmers becoming more reliant on their own abilities rather than the stock firms’ abilities to handle their affairs.
“And wives, who had previously not had much to do with the farm, started doing the books and becoming part of the team,” Allan said.
Though the change caused a lot of strife, they also highlighted the versatility and tenacity of farmers across New Zealand, qualities that have remained prevalent throughout the decades.
Now, farming is considered the backbone of New Zealand’s economy, with primary industries contributing to approximately 80% of our export revenue, according to MPI’s June 2022 Situation and Outlook report. Sheep and beef farming remain a stable sector while dairy farming dominates the industry due to massive demand for international exports and a high value of dairy products in New Zealand.
Agriculture has evolved a lot in the last six decades, with advancements made in everything from stock and seed genetics to irrigation technology, environmental regulations, and welfare policies, but the core principle remains very much the same: take care of the land, and the land will take care of you.
This philosophy is woven into Ruralco’s culture, with an emphasis of taking care of the people who have made, and continue to make, Ruralco the success it is today. 60 years after its founding fathers first gathered, the co-op continues to grow in business and uphold their values, working every day to make farming life easier.
Ruralco is proud to be here, and prouder still to look back and see where we began. From humble beginnings in Jack Brand’s living room to offering our products and services to farmers nationwide, we remain a co-operative that can honestly say ‘farmers, we’ve got your back’.