Darren Sutton

I’m Darren Sutton and was born and raised in Nelson on a dairy farm. I studied at Lincoln University where I did a bachelor of Agricultural Commerce, majoring in Farm Management. I have also completed some other post-grad studies through Massey University.

After completing university and some overseas travel, I worked for a large-scale government farm in the Waikato for two years, then spent 6 years as a research & extension agronomist with Barenbrug running forage trial operations in the North Island. For the past 16 years have been based in the Waikato as a FarmWise consultant.

I'm married and have got three teenage kids, who keep me busy. We all get out mountain biking water and snow skiing as a family, which we enjoy and also a few hunting adventures together as well.

What do I like about working with farmer?

One of the biggest attractions to my role with FarmWise is not being stuck in an office all day. Being able to get out on farm and work with a whole range of different people in different stages of life. Every day is different, and the variety of challenges that come up always keep me stimulated. The role stretches and challenges you. Just when you think you've seen it all, you haven't!

I love working with different family businesses. I’ve got a real affinity and empathy with my clients. Knowing the stresses and strains and being able to help people work their way through some challenging times is the most rewarding part of the role.

What are FarmWise's strengths?

I think the level of independence you get from FarmWise, whether individually or as a team is really important. There aren't many truly independent consultants operating out there, with many attached to a product or a service. So having real independence where there is no hidden agenda makes FarmWise more impartial.

The other important aspect for me is again, the history and wealth of knowledge across the whole FarmWise team. I'm yet to come across a problem that I have not been able to solve, because of the depth and knowledge of the team. That’s what makes FarmWise a great service.