Purchasing a piece of dairy farming land that has been in the family since 1898, Jarrod and Kim Godfrey enlisted the help of the Gallie Miles team.
Alex & Martha Cameron were the first generation of the family to own the farm in Roto O Rangi.
“Sadly, their sons Colin and John were killed in WW1 so, the farm passed to their daughter Mary Cameron. With her husband William Godfrey, they turned it into a dairy farm that has supplied Cambridge Co-operative Dairies and legacy companies (ie Fonterra) since 1926,” says Jarrod.
“My grandparents Colin and Margaret Godfrey followed, and my parents John and Barb Godfrey followed after that,” says Jarrod.
Jarrod says each generation has made gradual improvements “bush to grass, sheep to cows, clydesdale to tractors, and huge gains in pasture and genetics over the past 50 years.”
“Mum and Dad have put a huge amount of time and effort into farming - and their hard work and dedication is to be admired.”
Jarrod’s Dad John is currently in his 51st season on farm, and a few years ago, conversations started with Jarrod and Kim about farm succession and where to next.
“Although Kim and I aren’t dairy farming ourselves (Jarrod is a Partner at Findex in Te Awamutu and Kim owns a marketing business), it’s in my blood and I have a passion for it. At the end of the day, we wanted to carry on the family legacy and keep the farm in the family,” says Jarrod.
The family sat down together and made a plan. Barb and John decided to build a new house on a section they had previously subdivided off the farm.
Once that was almost completed, Jarrod and Kim sold their existing home in Puahue at auction, freeing them up to buy the main farm homestead off Barb and John. They also purchased a piece of the working dairy farm on the same title, which they now lease back to the farming business operation.
“Throughout the process we had conversations with Gallie Miles about our plans, and made sure we got proper market valuations done on both properties, to ensure that my sister was happy with everything as well,” says Jarrod.
“Rachel Tyler and the Gallie Miles team assisted us with our Puahue house sale, reviewing the sale and purchase agreement and auction terms and conditions.”
“Then a few weeks later, they worked on our purchase of Mum and Dad’s old house and block.
“At the same time, we worked with Shelley Greer to set up a family Trust and transferred our assets to the Trust. We also reviewed our Wills and Enduring Power of Attorney at the same time.”
“Throughout the process, the Gallie Miles team communicated and explained everything clearly to make sure we understood everything,” says Kim.
“It was good to know we had everything updated to our current situation and that we had all our ducks in a row with our setup and the various documentation required.”
Jarrod and Kim are excited about what the future holds, thinking about their own sons Flynn (aged 7) and Hugh (aged 5).
“We are currently looking at a small snapshot in time - there is a lot of hard work, dedication, tragedy and jubilation that has preceded us,” says Jarrod.
“And looking forward - the future is bright and exciting, especially for the youngest generations, hopefully with plenty of fun to be had!”
