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Next Generation leading the way at Harmony

11/9/2017

Kristy Walters and Lachlan Hunter are two young guns that are growing the Harmony Agriculture and Food Company (based in Western Australia) into one of the leading business in the Australian livestock sector.

These two fresh faces from the wheat-belt have been hand picked by some of the most skilled names in the WA export sector to team up with Harmony Agriculture and Food to step up its game in the sector.

Steve Meerwald, the director of HAAFCO, with over 30 years of experience under his belt, has decided to hire Kristy Walters and Lachlan Hunter and utilise their talents in business development.

Since 2016, when the company was launched, the Chinese joint venture has shown vast progress investing in numerous grazing spaces and feed yards throughout the Western Australia and Victorian regions to establish a livestock supply chain into global markets.

At the young age of 22, Kristy has joined HAAFCO after completing her studies in Animal Science. She was raised in a hybrid cropping and sheep farm in Brookton, and decided to follow a career path in Agriculture after she finished high school and took a sabbatical year in 2013.

She revealed that after finishing high school, she travelled north to try her hand at mustering. She found a love for the people and lifestyle and enjoyed working with the livestock and her path was set.

Kristy was hired in January by HAAFCO to fill the position of operations and compliance analyst.

She commented that the position has handed her the chance to follow her passion, directly working with the venture’s 15K livestock which are dispersed across Kellane, with grazing yards at Esperance and Dundonnell in West Victoria.

She said that her position was very diverse and it includes handling the properties and maintaining operations; she could be crafting a new guide or be present on the property or off to the airport to assist with product labelling for exports before returning to her office.

Her time split in overseeing the properties and her office was an amazing experience for her as she was able to develop connections in both of these places.

Lachlan became a part of the HAAFCO venture in May and he utilises his agricultural history and skills in State politics to facilitate the company’s foreign affairs.

Lachlan first worked in a hybrid crop and sheep farm at Bruce Rock and the completed his studies at Cunderdin Agricultural College in 2012.

While finishing year 12, he was offered a cadet-ship and proceeded on dedicating 12 months as plant breeding technician for InterGrain.

This was synchronised with the completion of his studies at UWA where he took a Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Politics and completed his studies last year.

At the same time, he also worked for Terry Redman, the former National Party minister for Regional Development. He said that working for a house parliament member as their in-office research executive was an amazing and enjoyable experience for him.

His tenure finished in March when the party lost the elections which was disappointing, but a valuable experience for him nonetheless.

Following a month off, the young gun was hired by Mr. Meerwald and currently he is a solid member of the team of HAAFCO's Cottesloe office.

The 22-year old commented that even though switching to the private field after working in the public sector was big transition for him, he looked forward to growing in this position as well.

He added that his family background has helped him gel better with the aims of Harmony as they are really improving the agricultural field and helping rural communities. 

Even if they are only 22 years old, they are representing the next generation of Ag leaders by working in positions that are pivotal to the operation of the company, a rare privilege to have at their age.

Kristy commented that coming straight out of the University and working in such position was a dream come true and considers herself very lucky to be chosen there.

Lachlan followed by sharing his enthusiasm for the fast rate of growth in the sector, particularly with the executive department and their connections to Chinese investment.

He looked forward to being with Harmony for the long haul and growing with the company.

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