Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited was born from a couple of get-togethers - one at Eskdale Hall in Hawke’s Bay, the other the Outram Hotel in Otago.

These two meetings, in 1962 and 1963, brought together farmers who were disillusioned with the monopoly and high margins enjoyed by stock firms in their areas. They wanted their neighbours to get the best possible price for the everyday materials needed to run a successful farm.

From those humble beginnings as Economic Trading Society and Otago Rural Trading Society, the years saw like-minded groups from around the country merge eventually become known as Farmlands Trading Society Limited (Farmlands) and Combined Rural Traders Limited (CRT).

Farmlands embarked $90 million tech transformation dubbed 'Braveheart'. based largely on Microsoft technologies, particularly its Dynamics 365 ERP system, the transformation replaced seven legacy systems.

The following year, the Braveheart project moved from the back end into Farmlands' store network to deliver new customer-facing systems.

As the co-operative enters its second half century, it is better placed than ever to offer shareholders a superior deal. With more than 1,000 staff servicing more than 64,000 shareholders through a network of 81 stores, Farmlands has evolved from the “bread and butter” of rural life, to a top 20 New Zealand company, with turnover in excess of $2 billion annually.

Offering shareholders competitive pricing on everything from fuel to finance to fertiliser, Farmlands is proud to continue fighting to make prices more competitive, while offering expert technical advice.

We’re your co-operative.