50 years of Topflite: Jock looks back

It’s easy to look back on decades gone by and think the story of Topflite has been one of carefully simple growth and progression, moving forward one foot after another with measured ease. Yet no significant journey is without its occasional swoops and slipstreams. We wanted an inside look at our company – so we got the good oil straight from the source.  

You’re always in for equal amounts insight and entertainment when sitting down with Topflite founder Jock Webster. With a twinkle in his eye and a hearty laugh never far away, his energy and enthusiasm is truly infectious. Now we’ve reached 50 years of operation, he’s the perfect guide to take us through the history of the company. 

Seeds of thought  

Was farming always a dream of yours? 

It certainly was. My father was a farmer and for as long as I could remember I wanted to be a farmer. He’d had to sell his farm though and my parents would say, “what are you going to buy a farm with? Stones?” Fortunately teaming up with Ross and Bruce Mitchell helped to remedy that.  

And you went on to study crop research?  

That’s right. I went to Lincoln College in 1967 and started work at the Crop Research Division in 1971 but being a scientist wasn’t my thing at all. I was more of a doer. So, I had a look around at a few different jobs and ended up working with Ross and Bruce Mitchell, who were farming 100% crop at the time. The Mitchells and their father Jim were visionary people who really loved talking and thinking about things. A lot of our success was a result of their vision, really. We were a superb team. 

Where did the idea to grow sunflowers originate? 

Crop yields were fairly average, and the Mitchells were always on the lookout for new opportunities. Ross had tried a few different precision sown crops but a real opportunity arose in the late 60s when the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries encouraged farmers to grow oilseed sunflowers. Supposedly these were meant to be drought resistant. 

At that time the odd person would inquire about sunflowers to feed their birds. So by the time 1974 rolled around we’d planted two hectares of sunflowers. I found myself stuffing paper down every second chute of a seed drill to make sure the rows were 14 inches apart. 

How did the first harvest go? 

Well, it wasn’t terrible. We secured a sale of 27 fifty kilo bags to Tweet Tweet Aviaries, who were our largest customer for a number of years. They sold birdseed out of their garage. 

Was there any push back from others about growing sunflowers? 

At the time friends told us to stop messing about with sunflowers but, thankfully, we ignored them and continued. While barley prices were good, I had spent some time in Australia learning more about growing sunflowers and Ross went to the USA to learn more. That’s where the Mitchells’ vision was important – they wanted to look beyond their own backyard. 

So growing sunflowers in New Zealand was a novelty? 

Yes, we were the only people growing sunflowers at the time. When Ross was over in the US he saw they had a special front on the combine harvesters for harvesting sunflowers. We’d had a similar idea but had been bolting bits of wood onto the front of our header to stop the sunflowers falling on the ground. So Ross imported a head snatcher from the USA which turned out to be instrumental to increasing the sunflower yields.

Another example of the thinkers and doers working together. That approach must have helped with improving the quality of the crop over the years too? 

Yes, Ross was instrumental in selecting the right sunflowers. He would go through the crop and select the best heads that weren't too tall and a good shape and bent over so the birds couldn't get at them. Over 50 years we have made quite a lot of progress. When we first started, the height of the sunflowers was hugely variable. Now they're much more uniform. 

A growing concern  

How did you start to grow the business? 

After the first harvest we began to double the area of sunflowers every year. We eventually managed to get 300 acres planted, and got 520 tons from that harvest. In fact, that year one of our buyers, Prebble Seeds who was a wholesaler to supermarkets, bought nearly the whole lot. 

Were there any issues that came with such fast growth? 

We were really hammered by disease at that stage because we were growing them in the same soil too often. Sclerotinia, which is a fungus disease, took over and was quite devastating. For about three years we got other farmers to grow for us while we got the rotation sorted. We helped some get started with sunflowers up in the Mackenzie Country which was quite an adventure in that environment, and still grow up near Omarama from time to time. 

And where did the bird clubs come into it? 

With the larger quantity of seed we were able to start a mail order to bird clubs. This worked quite well for several years – we would send up a 10-foot container of seed every April to the Huntly Cage Bird club, for example. And we’d load the truck up for one of our workers to take up to places like Tweet-Tweet in Christchurch. At that stage we only did one big annual delivery. But once we started wholesaling to shops we had to change that approach completely. 

Topflite has had a strong relationship with bird clubs for decades now. How have they been part of the story? 

Working closely with the bird clubs gave us a lot of insight into the specific needs of aviary birds – we asked questions about which seeds were best to incorporate into seed mixes or bird bells and took their advice on the soft food line when we acquired that business. I’d go out and visit all our customers at least once a year and that strong relationship has continued today.  

We took over the sponsorship of the National Bird Show from a company called Gladdens. They were real Jaguar-driving kind of people and used to show up bird shows in tuxedos and bowties. We’ve been fortunate to continue a strong relationship with the event and it was a real pleasure to host an open day at Topflite during the 2025 National Bird Show while everyone was in town.  

Taking flight 

What came after sunflowers? 

By 1982 we had gained more larger customers, and so our first forklift arrived to help move the bigger orders. Then in 1984 we planted our first canary seed crop. This both helped meet the demands of bird lovers while also assisting with crop rotation on the farm.  

Seed mixes were also in demand. When we first started off, we used a cement mixer to make them. If we got a big order in, farm work had to stop so we could get the mixing done. We soon graduated into a proper seed mixer in the late 80s. The same one is still in use at Topflite today – with a few upgrades. 

Talk a little about the bird bell business Topflite acquired. This was the start of our now-extensive line of bird feed products, right? 

Yes, it was a small operation from Lower Hutt and I saw it as a good broadening opportunity. They had been making each bell individually in quite a laborious process. So in 2000 when Greg [Jock’s son, now Managing Director] was home for university holidays, we gave him the job of mechanising things. He developed a mould with a better shape that could take plastic hooks. Then, between Ross, Greg and I, we built a vibrator so that the seed would vibrate down into the new moulds. By the end of the holidays we had quite a good process! We worked out of the wool shed that way for about 15 years, with two or three people making bells. That was the beginning, really. We bought a soft food business next and the Topflite range grew from there. 

Five decades on, the third generation of Websters is now working at Topflite in the school holidays. What are your hopes for the company in the decades to come? 

We kicked it off and the next generation has it now. What happens next is up to them, not us. It’s a buzz to see it going so well. Winning the Best Workplace Award - Regional and Community Spotlight was very special - it makes us very proud of what the next generation are achieving. They’re continuing to live the original values of the Mitchells and Websters – respect, treating everyone equally and giving back to the community.