Consolidated Narrogin AFGRI branch the ‘right move’ with team looking to add six more staff to support farmers

WA’s biggest John Deere dealership officially opened its new Narrogin branch on October 21, starting a new chapter company figureheads believe will offer better services for farmers. In March AFGRI announced it had made the “difficult” decision to close its Pingelly and Wagin branches and consolidate them into a $1.2m Narrogin branch, which opened earlier this year. Last week, the team took the opportunity to meet with farmers and formally introduce themselves and discuss their visions for the branch at its official opening. The new branch in the Wheatbelt town’s industrial area has a 10,000sqm footprint, including a 1172sqm dealership and service centre, a showroom and a workshop. AFGRI operations director Gollie Coetzee said while the decision was not easy, he believed it had been the “right move” and told growers the company was committed to supporting them “long-term”. He said the move had allowed them to employ more staff, which they hoped to expand further by two sales people, at least two parts employees and two technicians. “We had two branches which was really difficult to manage because they were small and we couldn’t afford to put in so many managers,” Mr Coetzee said. “Now with the consolidation we can actually grow the business — we can have a service manager and a parts manager. “Most of our staff were staying in Narrogin ... which meant that they had to travel to Wagin and Pingelly so I hope that with this consolidation and the growth of the branch that the staff will really enjoy their working environment. “And the facilities we have here versus what we had, I think it was the right move.” Narrogin branch manager Matt Podgorny told growers the company realised the closures “had an effect” on their businesses, but the “passionate team” was looking to support them in any way they could and “build relationships based on trust”. After a career in the car and trucking industries in parts and service management roles in Bunbury, it is his first foray into agriculture, but with family in the Wheatbelt and a passion for country life it’s a new chapter he said he’s embracing wholeheartedly. “I’m very excited to come to Narrogin, it’s something I’ve been thinking about for the last few years is to go more rural,” he said. “I love the Wheatbelt and AFGRI in Narrogin have a lot of opportunity ahead of them so I’m very excited to lead the team.” After the opening growers had the chance to take part in a header school, where specialists took them through set up, optimisation, daily checks and maintenance of their headers during harvest.