I've spent most of my working life sitting across the table from farmers.

My connection to agriculture started well before rural real estate. I grew up on a mixed arable and sheep farm in South Canterbury, where farming was simply part of everyday life.

Like many people, my career didn't follow a perfectly straight line.

I started out selling cars before making the move into agricultural machinery. That took me into the tractor and farm equipment industry, eventually running agricultural machinery dealerships in both Pukekohe and Canterbury.

It was an industry I thoroughly enjoyed.

You spent your days talking to farmers, understanding their businesses and helping them make decisions around machinery and capital investment. You quickly learnt that no two farming operations were the same.

Later, a conversation with a farmer led me down a completely different path.

Changes around on-farm fuel storage were creating a problem, and I saw an opportunity to develop a better solution.

That idea became SEBCO.

What started as an opportunity grew into an agricultural business that I owned and operated for 14 years. We designed and developed fuel and AdBlue storage products and worked with farming businesses throughout New Zealand.

Building SEBCO taught me a great deal.

It taught me the importance of listening to customers.

It taught me that farmers appreciate straight answers.

And it taught me that a handshake and doing what you say you're going to do still matter.

After 14 years, the SEBCO business was sold and another chapter began.

Today, I'm working in rural real estate with Property Brokers in Mid Canterbury, alongside Chris Murdoch.

In many ways, rural property feels like a natural continuation of my previous career.

When I drive onto a farm, I'm interested in how the property actually works.

I look at the irrigation system.

I notice the laneways.

I look at the sheds, yards and infrastructure.

I want to understand the water supply, the soils and how stock or machinery move around the property.

But more importantly, I want to understand the farming business behind the land.

Selling a farm is often considerably more than a property transaction.

For many farming families, it can represent decades of work, investment and sacrifice. Sometimes it involves succession. Sometimes retirement. Sometimes it's simply the right time to make a change.

Having owned and sold my own agricultural business, I understand that significant business decisions are rarely made lightly.

My role in rural real estate is to bring practical agricultural and commercial experience to the table, provide clear advice and work hard to achieve the best possible result for my clients.

I'm proud to be working in rural property across Mid Canterbury.

The industry may have changed over the years, but I still believe in something very simple.

Where a handshake matters.