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    NATIONAL AWARD: Elders Horsham-Kaniva branch manager Mat Taylor of Horsham is Elders’ national employee of the year. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

AgLife: Elders manager Mat Taylor ‘all for the team’

As far as Elders Horsham-Kaniva branch manager Mat Taylor is concerned, being named Elders’ national employee of the year simply represents a team effort.

“The biggest thing for me is ensuring everyone at the branch works together, if I can help that in the smallest way then that’s great,” he said.

“Being one of the senior staff here, I’ve been there and done that in chasing sales targets and so on. 

“It’s not about that for me anymore – it’s about coaching new employees in agriculture and making them better, watching their engagement with clients and working on building better relationships. That’s what I get my biggest kick from.”



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Elders has provided agribusiness services across Australia for more than 180 years, providing various services to primary producers from finance, banking, insurance and real-
estate to wool, grain, livestock and farm-supplies trading.

Elders has its headquarters in Adelaide and 300 branches across Australia.

Mr Taylor said he had an inkling he was in the top three after a nomination process via business executives and ‘was lucky enough’ to get the final thumbs-up from chief executive Mark Allison.

“It’s all a team effort at Elders Horsham though. There’s been some tweaks here and there and a few changes and with that has come a lot of youth and excitement into the team – and the clients just love it,” he said.

“Some of us older ones are doing a lot of coaching with the newbies, who are just great. The energy they bring in provides a great vibe around the business. 

“When it comes to farmers we’re there to help. This young brigade we have are going out on the farms and that’s something our clients appreciate. They ask can we go and do the drenching, can we go and do the shearing – they just want to learn by doing. The more they know and work in with farmers, the better they will be – they will be the next generation in agriculture, so it’s great.”

Mr Taylor, who found out about his award via an online presentation, started his first job in agriculture with agribusiness Heinrich Merchandise.

“I was lucky enough to get a start there and I then spent 15 years at Nufarm. I then took on a people-management role at Elders and have been the branch manager in Horsham for the past three years,” he said.

Mr Taylor said working in Elders was about developing strong relationships with clients and riding a wave with them through the various ups and downs of the agricultural industry.

“That’s why we’re delighted that most of our clients are having good results this season,” he said.

“They’ve had a very long and tiring year. We spoke with a lot of clients back in March at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to make sure they were covered for the season. 

“We’ve worked so hard as a collective group and what’s happening now is just reward.

“Good luck to the farmers. They have done it tough for a long time. 

“I’m so happy they are going to get some good money back this time around.”

The entire December 23, 2020 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!

The entire December 23, 2020 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!