eCOGENT.biz is the brainchild of Peter Floyd, and is the result of his lifetime of experience in farming, agricultural research, advisory work and consulting. In the early 90s Peter realised that there must be a better way of farming than producing more and more for less and less.

Observing how the most successful city businesses optimised their profitability through strategic management, he adapted their methods to suit pastoral farming. Over the past decade he has developed and proven asystem of strategic management for farmers that takes the guesswork out of farm business decision making.

“I realised early on that there had to be a better way of farming than produce-more-and-hope-for-the-best, which was the only idea that traditional advisory services could offer,” he says.

Peter’s approach combines the observation and analytical skills of a researcher with the down-to-earth practical focus of a farmer and the strategic profit focus of a successful businessman. His skills as a communicator and facilitator, honed through years of extension campaigns with farmers and in his dairy and deer consultancies, have been formalised into a highly successful coaching programme for farmer members of eCOGENT.biz.

Gillian worked at Ruakura for many years as a research technician and has a thorough grounding in agricultural research as well as practical farming. She helped Peter develop and run their dairy and deer farms, and later set up and managed the office for their business partnership.

For eCOGENT.biz , Gillian established office systems for data and livestock recording, financial analyses, and the production of specialised reports for clients, giving them hard data and analyses on which to base good business decisions.

Now as administration manager for eCOGENT.biz she supervises the Information Managers and plays a vital role in the organisation of the business.

Cheryl Brooks
Office Administrator

After working for 7 years as an administrator for the not for profit sector , Cheryl then worked on several contracts for the University of Waikato as an Administrator and assisting students with enrolment.Cheryl has Bachelor of Arts in Screen and Media Studies. As the Office Administrator she will be assisting the Information Managers and updating the website.