Nikos Smith

FIL Area Manager for the Wanganui and Manawatu area Nikos Smith joined us in late 2021. Born and raised in around the family industry, Nikos says his earliest memory is ‘helping’ his mum milk cows in shed at the age of 4!

“Nana and Grandad have 40 acres just outside Foxton and would rear 400 calves in the spring, so most school holidays I was out there helping out,” Nikos says of his early years. His career background involves relief milking as a teenager and working his way through the ranks at Farm Source.

Nikos says he is loving his time so far at FIL. “I’ve learned so much about the industry I’ve been around for 30 years in just a few months,” he says. “With my previous job, I always enjoyed the curly questions and working out ways to resolve them. Then when you were out on farm, you’d see your idea being implemented and you’d have a “yeah, I did that” feeling whenever you saw it,” he says.

“The thing I love about this company, is everyone shares that same mentality. No one is too good to help, to share information, or to point you in the right direction, it’s a brilliant feeling because we are all steering to a common goal,” he adds.

Nikos thrives on problem solving. “The thing I really enjoy about my job is we are more than just drum peddlers. We sit down with the farmers and tailor programmes and processes to help improve their way of working,” he says. “Whether it be something simple as staff refresher training, to more complex issues such as working out a plan to get Staph issues under control by way of separating herds and adjusting milking techniques,” he adds.

Outside of work, Nikos is flat out on the tractor helping his old man with his contracting business in the summer. In the winter he’ll be found “getting under my partners feet.” He also has a young daughter and a plethora of animals to keep him busy: two horses, two guinea pigs, four cats, two dogs and a sheep.