Keeping the wheels turning: The John Austin Ltd story, then and now

When this magazine first profiled John Austin Ltd back in 2001, the Waikato-based business had already built a reputation for precision, reliability and scale.

John Austin was then at the peak of his working life - a contractor with a fleet of Green machines, a loyal customer base and an unshakeable drive to keep growing. His operation was large by the standards of the day, with forage harvesters, trucks and tractors spread across the rolling farmland of Waikato New Zealand. Yet even then, John spoke about his work not in terms of hectares covered or machines owned but in the satisfaction of a clean job and a happy client.

Looking back now, that original profile reads like a time capsule from a different era. GPS was still a novelty, mobile phones were barely a decade old and most contractors ran their businesses from the seat of a tractor rather than a laptop. The work was physical, seasonal and demanding. Machinery was powerful but not yet smart and experience counted for everything.

What stood out about John then and still does today was the clarity of his approach. He built his business around three simple values: do the job properly, back your team and never forget that reputation travels faster than any machine.

More than twenty years on, those values remain the backbone of John Austin Ltd. The company has grown from a regional contracting outfit into one of the most respected names in the Waikato, employing close to forty staff year-round and up to seventy during the busy harvest season. The fleet has expanded and diversified, the services have broadened and the technology has transformed the way every job is planned and executed. Yet for all the change, the heartbeat of the business remains unmistakably the same - family, integrity and pride in a job well done.

Today, the name on the machines and the gate still reads John Austin Ltd but the next generation is firmly in the driver’s seat. John’s son Michael now oversees much of the company’s day-to-day operation, particularly the silage and forage work that sits at the core of the business. His sister Hannah has also stepped into a key leadership role managing employment and marketing, while also assisting with health & safety, fleet management and agronomy support. Together, they represent not just a smooth succession but a natural evolution - a shift from one generation’s hands-on grit to another’s data-driven precision, underpinned by the same deep connection to land and people.

John and his wife Jackie still play a guiding role, offering the experience and perspective that only decades in contracting can bring. They remember the early years vividly, the late nights in the field, the endless repairs, the customers who became lifelong friends. John began contracting in 1980 with a single combine, a tractor and a handful of implements. His philosophy was simple: if a farmer needed something done, he would find a way to do it. That willingness to take on anything and to do it well became the company’s hallmark. Over time, the business grew from harvesting and cultivation into a comprehensive contracting service, covering everything from spraying and drilling to earthmoving, cartage and precision planting.

Back in 2001, when we spoke to John he talked about the challenge of finding good staff and keeping them through the seasons. It’s a challenge every contractor knows too well. Yet even then, he recognised that people were the key to consistency.

“You can buy a new tractor any time,” he said, “but finding someone who’ll run it like it’s their own takes years.”

That sentiment rings even truer today. The scale of the operation has grown, but so too has the investment in people, in training, in safety, in creating a workplace that rewards loyalty. Many of the team who started years ago are still there, mentoring younger operators who now bring new skills and fresh ideas to the field.

Michael, who grew up among the machines, learned early what it meant to shoulder responsibility. He started by sweeping sheds, washing gear and shadowing experienced operators before taking charge of jobs himself. Today, he coordinates the silage teams across the region, managing a fleet that operates with GPS guidance, yield mapping and live job tracking.

“Technology has changed everything,” he says. “We can see exactly what’s being harvested and where, plan routes for efficiency and adjust in real time if weather or conditions shift. But at the end of the day, the principles Dad taught still apply. You do the job once and you do it right.”

That balance between old-school reliability and new-school precision has become the company’s defining feature. Hannah, meanwhile, has helped bring a fresh energy to the business. She has implemented stronger systems for health and safety, digitalised much of the record-keeping and built an online presence that connects the business more directly with its customers and future employees.

“We want to use our platform to encourage and inspire into the industry not only our customers and staff, but anyone who sees what we are doing. I think it’s a big opportunity we have, to spread a positive example of what farmers and contractors are actually doing by sharing our world on social media and hopefully giving a young kid a dream to get into farming and this way of life. So many people nowadays don’t want to work, or haven’t had the opportunity or encouragement to get into the industry. We have a unique platform to be able to give those people a taste of what they can do.”

For John, watching his children take the reins has been both rewarding and humbling.

“When I started out, I couldn’t have imagined the size or complexity of what we’re running now,” he reflects. “We had one combine and a few bits of gear - now there are machines I can hardly recognise. But the heart of it is the same. We’re helping farmers do their job better. That hasn’t changed.”

He still works full time in the business keeping a close interest and hand in how things are running while supporting Michael and Hannah in their journey.

Succession in contracting is never easy. The industry is capital-intensive, weather-dependent and constantly evolving. Many family businesses struggle to transition from founder to next generation especially when technology, compliance and market pressures reshape the job every few years. What makes the Austins’ story so compelling is how natural that transition has been. There was no abrupt handover, no clash of ideas just a steady shift in roles as experience met enthusiasm. John instilled a work ethic and a set of standards; Michael and Hannah have brought innovation and fresh vision. It’s a combination that has allowed the company not just to survive but to keep expanding.

The Waikato landscape has played its part too. This is heartland contracting country, a region of fertile flats and rolling rises where the seasons can be both generous and unforgiving. To succeed here takes more than good gear; it takes timing, teamwork and a feel for the land. That’s something John passed on instinctively and something his children now live every day.

Each job still begins with the same question: how can we make this farm more productive, more resilient, more ready for the next season? The answer, then as now, lies in precision and pride.

Today, John Austin Ltd services more than 800 clients across a 300 kilometre radius, employing full-time operators, mechanics and office staff alongside seasonal teams. Their machinery line-up reads like a cross-section of modern agriculture—John Deere forage harvesters, precision planters, grain and maize harvesters, excavators, spreaders and a transport fleet. The scale is impressive, but it’s the systems behind it that make it work. Jobs are scheduled, tracked and monitored digitally; maintenance is planned to the hour; safety and compliance are woven into every stage. It’s contracting at scale run with the discipline of a logistics company but the heart of a family farm.

Behind the numbers sits a story of commitment—to clients, to staff and to the region that built the business. The Austins are Waikato through and through. Their customers range from long-established dairy farms to newer conversions, from cropping enterprises to lifestyle blocks that need seasonal help. Many of those clients have been with them for decades.

“We’ve grown with them,” says Michael. “Some of the farms we cut for now, Dad started with their fathers or grandfathers. It’s pretty special to keep those relationships going.”

That continuity is at the centre of the succession story. In farming and contracting alike, success often comes down to trust, knowing that when the weather breaks or the pressure’s on the people you call will turn up, stay late and get the job done. John built that trust over decades. Michael and Hannah are now carrying it forward with the same quiet determination, backed by tools and technology that make every job more efficient and sustainable. The company has invested heavily in precision application and nutrient management, helping clients meet environmental targets without compromising productivity. It’s a sign of how the industry has changed and how forward-thinking contractors now play a central role in sustainable farming.

Yet for all the sophistication, the essence of the job remains the same. There’s still mud under the tyres, diesel in the air and that familiar race against the elements.

“When the weather turns, it doesn’t matter how good your plan is,” Michael laughs. “You just have to get stuck in.”

It’s in those moments - the late nights, the early starts, the teamwork under pressure - that the spirit of John Austin Ltd really shows.

For Hannah, the pride comes in seeing the people and the place thrive together.

“For us this is more than just a business. Being family owned we want those values and culture to flow through to everyone who works here. We are so appreciative to all the families who work with us and for us. Seeing the next generation working here after their fathers or even grandfathers is so special. It’s wonderful to know that this business means something very special to so many people who have worked here over the years. Dad is such a wealth of knowledge and passing the baton on to Michael and I and the rest of this generation stepping up into the business is very cool.”

That openness to sharing knowledge, supporting staff and contributing to the wider industry has made John Austin Ltd more than just a business. It’s part of the region’s rural fabric.

As the contracting world continues to change, the Austins are determined to stay ahead without losing their roots. Automation, precision machinery and data-driven decision-making are all on the horizon but they see these as tools to complement, not replace human skill.

“The gear can tell you where to go,” John says, “but it can’t tell you when the grass is just right.”

That instinct honed over years of watching weather patterns, soil moisture and crop maturity remains one of the few things technology can’t replicate. It’s also one of the many reasons experience still counts.

More than forty-five years after John first hitched a machine to a tractor at just 11 years old, the company that now bears his name is still growing, still adapting and still defined by the people who make it work. The old profile from 2001 captured a business on the rise. The story today is about what comes next - about legacy, leadership and the quiet strength of a family who have kept the wheels turning for four decades.

If there’s a lesson in the John Austin story, it’s that real succession isn’t about handing over the keys. It’s about handing over the values that made the business worth inheriting in the first place. And in that respect John Austin Ltd remains the perfect example, a company built on hard work sustained by family and carried forward by a new generation who understand exactly what those values mean.

What makes their journey remarkable is not just the scale of what they’ve built, but the balance they’ve found. Few contracting businesses last more than four decades, fewer still manage to grow through generational change without losing the character that made them trusted in the first place. The Austins have done that by keeping people at the centre, from the clients who’ve stood with them since the beginning to the team members who treat every paddock and machine like their own. That sense of shared purpose, of doing the work well because it matters is the thread that runs through every season and every story.

For readers who remember that 2001 profile the contrast is striking, new names, new machines, new methods - yet the same grit and goodwill that define rural contracting at its best. It’s proof that progress and tradition can coexist when guided by experience, humility and heart. And as John Austin Ltd looks to the next forty years, the message is clear: the tools may change but the measure of good work never does.