Annual Farm Manager Meeting 2019

On 6-7 June 2019, all 12 Fuhrmann Farm Managers and their teams came together in Trelew for their annual 2-day meeting. The goal of the meeting was to discuss the Fuhrmann farm management vision and strategy, exchange experience and assist each other with common farm challenges and to learn new skills.

Learning and supporting each other

As the 12 Fuhrmann managed farms are very remote and distributed across the whole of the Patagonian region, most of the farm managers only see each other once a year. The annual meeting provides a unique opportunity to exchange stories, learn from each other and come up with solutions together for common challenges on the farm. We also discussed how information can flow more efficiently between all farms and the mill, as good and regular communication is key for everyday work.

Farm management strategy – a joint team effort

The Fuhrmann farm management programme is a key strategic investment of the Schneider Group. Therefore the farm managers are the key link to implementing the strategy on-farm and growing this side of the business. The annual meeting provides the opportunity to adjust the strategy jointly and receive valuable input from the farms in order to see what is working, what is needed and where the further potential lies.

Annual status quo

The meeting is also the time to collect the most recent sheep and lambing numbers, wool shorn, certifications completed, etc. We were very proud to learn, that overall the farm managers were able to increase stocking rates from 120.000 sheep to 130.000 sheep, which also led to a higher volume of wool shorn. Based on this success, we were also happy to employ more staff members on some of the farms.

Learning new skills

In addition to the many meetings, the 2 days were also used for training courses on animal welfare, sheep protection dogs, work safety, vehicle maintenance, windmill energy and feed supplementation. As there is always new research and new technology available, it is important to make the latest knowledge available to the farm managers in order for them to best apply it on the farms.

The two days were packed with information and discussions and were a good preparation to start into the new wool season shortly.

This post is also available in: Spanish