HFGL Board of Directors
John Hopkins JP
John has had a lifelong interest in farming, having had 20 years milking cows before progressing on to farm management and development. Awarded a Nuffield Scholarship in 1979, John has also had 15 years in farm politics with Federated Farmers followed by 10 years as a Director of the Tui and Kiwi Cooperative Dairy Companies. John has proven foresight and is continually looking for new ways to progress. The growth of Hopkins Farming Group as one of the largest and most successful farming groups in New Zealand is evidence of this foresight.
Tim Hopkins
Tim has had 20 years milking cows on farms ranging from 140 to 1300 cows. After three years as a farm cadet Tim returned to manage the family farm and has since managed and developed a number of HFGL farms including Blythe, Tokomaru, Toll Bridge, Taonui and Kohi Heights in Waverly. He has been a supervisor of a number of HFGL farms since 2005.
Andrew Hopkins
Andrew has worked in the family business since leaving school. As manager of Strautmann Hopkins Ltd for the past 15 years he has successfully expanded that business. Andrew also manages the contracting team that provides services to all HFGL farms and some external contracting.
Malcolm Bailey JP, B.Ag.Econ
Malcolm is a dairy farmer from Feilding and a shareholder in the group. He is a current director of Fonterra and in the past was national president of Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, and External Monetory Policy Adviser to the Reserve Bank. Malcolm has a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics from Massey University.
Kevin Davidson
Kevin is an independent director who began dairying in Waikato, progressed rapidly through sharemilking before buying a 55ha farm. Within five years Kevin was producing twice the district average. In 2000 with others Kevin formed an equity partnership which purchased 365 ha in Central Hawkes Bay and converted it to dairying. Kevin manages this 1400 cow operation which is irrigated, highly performing and profitable.
Richard Barker B.Sc.(Hons), Ph.D.
Richard is Professor of Statistics at University of Otago. After completing a degree in Zoology at Massey University, Richard began his career as a Fish and Game officer in Wanganui and Rangitikei before working at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Centre in the United States in the early 1990’s. He earned his Ph.D in Statistics at Massey University after returning to NZ in 1992. Following a stint as a biometrician at Landcare Research, Richard has been a University academic since 1998. He holds the Chair in Statistics at the University of Otago, and is currently Head of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
HFGL Management Team
| John Hopkins | Chairman of the Board of Directors, CEO |
| Tim Hopkins | Manager, development |
| Andrew Hopkins | Manager, Strautmann Hopkins |
| Max Sturt | Manager, dairy farms |
| Brian Clarke | Farm Consultant (PGG Wrightson) |
| Hugh Jellie | Veterinarian (Dairy Concepts) |
| Nick Koreneff | Human Resources consultant |
| Office Staff: | Justine Croft, Adrianna McCool |