Living on the slopes of Mt Pirongia, 30 minutes from Hamilton, Phil is active in farming his co-owned 240ha drystock property with his wife Megan.

Phil also works as an Agribusiness consultant with AgFirst (Waikato) where he focuses on helping a range of clients consider land use diversification from an economic, systems and succession perspective.

Phil completed the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme in 2016 and has recently become a member of the Beef and Lamb Mid Northern North Island Farmer Council where he is upbeat about the opportunities for this sector. Prior to farming, Phil travelled extensively and has a diverse background. He has worked in Environmental Science across Australasia, held senior roles with AgResearch in commercialisation and business development and completed a Master of Marine Management at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Phil believes a positive outlook and high-quality collaboration is essential to the primary sector positively confronting the myriad of complex challenges faced. Phil wants to explore the NZ primary sector landscape to determine if there are fundamental barriers restricting collaboration, and to consider how NZ primary producers can best work together.