LIC has welcomed Mark Julian to its Senior Leadership Team as GM Operations & Service, responsible for the co-op’s farms and the delivery of essential herd improvement services to farmers including artificial breeding, herd testing, diagnostics and animal health tests.
Mark grew up on a dairy farm in Taranaki and has been involved in the dairy sector throughout his career, most recently as GM Dairy Operations at Pāmu, the State-Owned Enterprise with a nationwide portfolio of farms.
LIC Chief Executive David Chin, who was GM Operations & Service prior to taking up the CE role in January, said: “I am pleased to welcome Mark, a highly regarded leader in the dairy sector who has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to running a sustainable, profitable farming business.
“I’m confident Mark’s passion for farming, combined with his ability to implement strategies that deliver positive outcomes will serve our farmer shareholders well.”
Reflecting on his move to LIC, Mark said: “There is so much exciting work going on across LIC and a lot of potential for growth too.
“New Zealand pastoral farming is underpinned by productivity improvements. The services and support LIC provides its dairy farming shareholders to help them breed better cows and improve their farming operation really interests me.”
LIC’s peak operational period runs from 1 September through to Christmas, where its AB technicians inseminate up to 100,000 cows a day, around 400,000 herd test milk samples are processed each week and up to 30,000 animal samples are tested for DNA and animal health on a weekly basis.
“With the peak spring period upon us, I’ve hit the ground running and am looking forward to gaining a deeper understanding of how the co-op works and supporting my team to deliver operational excellence to farmer shareholders during this important time on-farm.”
