Meet The Team
Mike King
Owner / Farm Consultant
With a career spanning over 40 years, Mike started out as a farm cadet in the Waikato and worked his way up through sharemilker to equity farm manager in Canterbury.
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Mike holds a Bachelor of Applied Science, Agriculture and Rural Valuation from Massey University, and was awarded a Massey Scholar.
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Mike was responsible for managing one of New Zealand’s largest individual dairy farms, Cloverdale Dairies Ltd.
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Mike headed up farm operations for New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay, overseeing the conversion and development of 40,000 hectares and milking 40,000 cows in Uruguay.
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Tambo NZ Ltd was formed in 2008 to provide farm consulting and conversion support in Canterbury.
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Mike is married to Margaret and they have three adult children and five grandchildren. When not at work Mike can generally be found on the mountain bike trails around Christchurch.
Jansen Travis
Owner / Farm Consultant
Jansen has a rural background with more than 25 years’ experience working in the sector. From an early career working on commercial sheep, beef and dairy properties, Jansen moved on to extension roles in Beef + Lamb and then FarmIQ, working with farmers to help them improve their farming systems.
His experience includes enhancing on-farm productivity, farm data analysis, strategic farm business planning, project management, lease reviews and succession planning.
Within the Tambo team, Jansen’s primary focus is grazing management, review of land use options and on-farm project management. Jansen holds a Bachelor of Commerce,Agriculture (Valuation/Farm Management) from Lincoln University.
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Jansen is married to Jenna and they have three children. Jansen enjoys the outdoors and hunting trips.
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Stu Bayliss
Owner / Farm Consultant
Stu graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Farm Management) from Lincoln University in 2006. He subsequently held a range of roles in New Zealand and off-shore working on farms and in the farm servicing sector.
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On his return to New Zealand he joined FarmIQ as Business Manager, working with sheep and beef farmers to monitor, evaluate and improve their farming practises and systems. In this role, he also facilitated on-farm field days and discussion groups. Stu assisted with the conversion of a family dairy farm and managed it for the first four seasons, prior to joining the team at Tambo.
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Stu is passionate about good pasture and feed management and seeing this transferred into successful financial performance. A strong background of practical and technical knowledge allows Stu to deal with all aspects of farming.​
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Stu is married to Hannah and they have three daughters that keep them busy. Stu is a keen hunter and like time in the hills.
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Luke Palmer
Owner / Farm Consultant
Luke grew up in Southbridge and took an active involvement in his family’s agricultural transport and spreading company. He joined the Tambo team in 2018 after graduating from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture) degree, where he was awarded ETEC Crop Solutions and Heartland Bank Scholarships.
Within the Tambo team, Luke’s primary role is project managing capital developments from design/inception to completion, farm operational analysis and financial due diligence.
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Outside of work Luke enjoys sports and spending time with friends and family, with rugby taking up much of his spare time over the winter months and golf during the summer. Luke is also a volunteer with the Southbridge Fire Brigade.
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Michael Mawhinney
Farm Consultant - Dairy
Michael grew up in South Canterbury and graduated from Lincoln University in 2010 gaining a Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture) degree. He then went on to dairy farming and his most recent farming was sharemilking a 200 ha farm in Temuka.
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Michael’s successful sharemilking gives him a solid understanding of profitable operational and financial outcomes.
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Michael has previously worked for Environment Canterbury as a Land Management and Biodiversity Advisor. In this role he helped farmers with their Farm Environment Plans and promoted best farm practice. Michael has also completed a Sustainable Nutrient Management course from Massey University giving him a good understanding of Overseer.
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Michael uses a range of tools, such as Xero, Figured, Farm Focus, FARMAX and OverseerFM to ensure our clients are farming smarter, not harder.
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Gill Happer
Executive Assistant / Office Manager
Gill looks after client liaison, office management, appointment scheduling and everything in between. Prior to joining Tambo, Gill worked in the wool industry in a variety of administrative and grower marketing roles and worked as Executive Assistant to the CEO, Board and Chair of Wool Partners.
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Gill enjoys meeting new clients and getting to know them.
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A highlight of her career was working on strategies to unite New Zealand wool growers to create the wool industry’s equivalent of Fonterra.
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Outside of Tambo Gill enjoys picture framing, photography and tennis as well as taking her St John Therapy Dog, Dudley, on various outings.
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George Hopcroft
Farm Consultant – Sheep and Beef
George grew up on an intensive sheep farm in Wendonside, Southland. He graduated from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture). George has experience crutching lambs in Southland worked on a cropping farm in Dromore, Mid Canterbury as well as working on Mount Aspiring Station in Central Otago.
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George is very passionate about the rural sector and enjoys working alongside farmers to achieve positive outcomes.
Outside of work George enjoys playing rugby, socialising with friends and getting out into the hills.
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Jack Kane
Farm Consultant – Dairy
Jack grew up on a dairy support farm in Tauhei, Waikato and graduated from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture). Throughout high school and his time at Lincoln University, he worked as a relief milker.
During his summer work placements, Jack gained hands-on experience in dairy farming across Waikato and Canterbury, as well as dry stock farming in the King Country. Working in two of New Zealand’s largest dairy regions provided him with valuable insights into the differences in scale and intensity of farming operations.
Jack’s passion for agriculture stems from his rural upbringing and a strong commitment to promoting New Zealand-made products.
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Outside of farming, he enjoys the outdoors, playing and coaching cricket, and playing rugby. He also loves hiking and socialising with friends in his spare time.
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