GROWING up on a farm, Nufarm Australasia general manager Lachlan McKinnon never aspired to be part of the agriculture chemical industry.
“I thought I would farm for the rest of my life,” he said.
Mr McKinnon completed an agricultural science degree at Latrobe University in Melbourne, did some work for Carlton Brewery at a hop farm before returning to Shepparton to farm with his family.
But something more beckoned.
In 1990, Mr McKinnon heard about a job at Nufarm through some friends that also worked at the company in Melbourne.
So he thought he’d give the sales a go.
“In those days Nufarm was a company on the rise,” he said.
“They had just started selling Glysophate, which was the only other Round Up available at the time.
“So there was opportunities for the business to grow in those early days and being an Australian company based in Victoria, it was something I wanted to be involved with.”
It didn’t take long for Mr McKinnon to progress through the ranks from sales supervisor to territory manager.
However by 1994, Mr McKinnon yearned to run his own business and left the company.
He became a part-owner of two franchise businesses Donald Ag Supplies and St Arnaud Rural Supplies with Distribution (formerly IAMA), but only lasted a few years.
“I wanted to own and run my own business and be more in control of everything,” he said.
“However the structure – with IAMA as the major partner – wasn’t working. A corporate body having minority interests in a business - it may work for some people but it didn’t work for me.
“There was too many decisions being made corporately that affected me personally.”
Mr McKinnon said he was very fortunate because about the same time the business arrangement was failing, Nufarm asked if he would like to return to the company as the State manager of Queensland. A position he gladly took on for just over two years.
By the 1990s, Nufarm was prepared to go global and Mr McKinnon’s experience within the company made him the ideal candidate to represent the company to new overseas markets.
He became the general manager for Nufarm’s northern European division in the UK.
“Nufarm’s philosophy was to take the model that worked in Australia and apply it in other parts of the world, and the best way to do that was to use the people that had helped expand the company in Australia,” he said.
“It was a massive challenge but exciting at the same time because it was basically a blank canvass, Nufarm was non-existent overseas.
“But because of the company’s maturity, established customer base, policy and procedures, there was a real opportunity to grow, develop, acquire in other parts of the world.”
Nufarm now operates in more than 100 countries around the world with turnover of more than $2.5 billion.
Mr McKinnon said it was fascinating to witness the different types of agriculture, compared to Australian practices.
However home beckoned and in 2002, Mr McKinnon returned to Australia to take on the general managers position he is in today.
More profiles in 16-pg Movers and Shakers liftout in this week’s Stock and Land, Thursday, June 9 edition