Tech expert relishes new role
Even after decades in crop protection, Gordon Harris enjoys nothing more than getting out on orchards, vineyards or farms where producers haven’t got quite the results they’ve wanted, and helping solve the situation.
The newly appointed technical services and development manager for Sipcam New Zealand, formerly Grosafe Group, says digging deeper into ‘product performance enquiries’ is hugely satisfying.
It’s one thing to develop a product and bring it to market.
Making sure that product succeeds, and continues to succeed, for end users is the true measure of technical achievement, he says.
He’s guided by two phrases from author Steven Covey in this regard – begin with the end in mind, and seek first to understand, then to be understood.
“So often in our industry we are production driven. We have these ideas, but we need to know what they’re going to look like when we actually turn them into a product and we’re persuading farmers to
use them.”
Harris is based in Hawke’s Bay for his new role, and is no stranger to New Zealand crop protection, having first joined the industry as a Massey graduate with ICI in 1985.
Coming from a farming background himself, his sights were always set on a career in agriculture and he’s stayed in primary production technical services and research ever since.
“I have considered re-training once or twice. But this is what I know, and what I enjoy.
“It’s one sector where you can be part of a new development from the very beginning to the end, starting from the initial concept stages, coming up with a plan with your colleagues to make it happen, doing all the work, getting a product registered and then the best part, seeing it succeed in
the market.”
Having worked in NZ with several suppliers, including Crop Care, Taranaki Nuchem and its successor organisations, his most recent corporate role was in California’s Central Valley, where he moved in 2019 to help spearhead market development and expansion for Lonza.
Based in Fresno, ‘which is Hastings on steroids’, he got an insider’s perspective on the huge scale of Californian primary production and processing, and was involved in a series of new initiatives in the United States market before coming back to Hawke’s Bay four years later.
“We weren’t here for Cyclone Gabrielle, but we knew what had happened. Our house in Pakowhai had been under 18 feet of water for a few days, and is zoned Category 3, which means we are not allowed to
live there.
“So we had to get that land cleaned up, find a new use for it, and find somewhere else to live!”
The orchard leased to T&G fared better: “They did a tremendous job of removing the silt, fixing it up and carrying on production.”
When the Sipcam NZ role came up as a result of the recent ownership change there was no hesitation about jumping in.
“Part of the reason was that I’d worked with David MacGibbon previously, from the Cropcare days through to Taranaki Nuchem. He understands how this industry works, and I wanted to work with him again.”
The other attraction was Sipcam Oxon itself, he says, the privately-owned Italian parent organisation which was founded in 1946 and today operates in more than 20 countries.
“I’m always excited by the chance to match a crop protection business opportunity with the appropriate technology, and I can see a lot of potential for that with Sipcam.
“They have some exciting biologicals in the pipeline, as well as several potential biorationals, which is a category that encompasses things like bio-stimulants, amino acids, fertilisers and trace elements.”
Outside of work, Harris has other technical preoccupations, among them restoring a 1938 Chevrolet pick up truck that spent two day under silty water, and refereering football in the men’s aspirational leagues, making sure their game is safe and enjoyable.