John Davis of Uptake: A Visionary on the Farming Landscape
By Tristan Hooker/MediaPA
John Davis is a man who cares about his clients.
“I like to see my clients succeed,” says John, “to see them blossoming and fulfilling their ambitions. I feel proud for them when I see what they’ve been able to achieve.”
John, CEO of innovative fertiliser company, Uptake, began as a farmer himself and understands the pressure that can come with making a livelihood in such a challenging industry.
“I had problems on my own farm where the copper was seriously deficient,” says John.
“I had all sorts of advice that went against what I was thinking. I should have been giving copper to the soil, rather than giving it to the stock.”
John says he knew there was a better way to get the right mineral balance for healthy stock but carried on farming, “because that was just part of the deal.” Yet he never stopped looking for the solution he knew was out there.
“I did see something in America where they were spraying on suspension fertilisers and that demonstrated to me that there was a way of getting trace minerals to the soil.
“I studied about how all that worked but I couldn’t see a way of doing it in New Zealand on hill country farming.”
Still, John refused to give up and his quest led him on a journey of discovery which included giving up the farm life and moving his young family to the South Island and back.
“We had been struggling financially and it was really tough. It was a tough time for farming.”
However, what John eventually figured out, led to his company, Uptake, revolutionising the way people farm.
“I really wanted to find ways of using trace minerals in a better form,” he says, “to improve the health and condition of stock, rather than jamming them full of needles and giving them copper bullets.”
“I felt that the problem didn’t lie with the animal, where everyone was treating it. Everything was back to front.
“I had to find a way of applying those minerals so that they could be mobilized back through the soil.”
Uptake has found a way to do exactly that and the company has now been in operation for more than 30 years with a proud history of helping farmers enjoy farming, with healthy stock and rising profits.
“We’re not trying to replace the conventional system because it’s working reasonably well. But what our company is doing is we’re complementing that system. We’re making it better.”
“I don’t want to work for the client, I want to work with them,” says John. “To work with them, you have to get ‘on farm’ and see how they do things - not to find things that are wrong, but to find things that are good, then capitalise on the good work they’re already doing and make what they’re doing better.”
Uptake Office
PO Box 743, Fleet Street, Taupo
Phone: 07 378 2604
Email: info@uptake.co.nz
Website: www.uptake.co.nz
Factory Phone: 06 835 0130
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UptakeFertiliser/?fref=ts
Contact MediaPA:
Phone: 0274 587 724
Address: The Meteor Building, 1 Victoria Street, Hamilton.
Email: phillip@mediapa.co.nz
Website: www.mediapa.co.nz
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MediaPA
Twitter: twitter.com/NZ_MediaPA
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/TheMediaPA
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/NZMediaPA