Colin owns and operates a 650-cow dairy farm, and two further irrigated properties that rear and finish bull beef at Methven in Mid-Canterbury with his wife Paula, and their two daughters. 

He is a chartered accountant and has a commerce degree in Farm Management and a post-graduate Diploma in Accountancy and Finance from Lincoln University. 

Colin is chief executive of Dairy Holdings Limited which has extensive operations throughout the South Island. He is a director of a number of agri-business companies and is currently chairman of Ashburton Lyndhurst Irrigation Limited.