Bruce Vandersee CEO of Vanderfield Pty Ltd talks: Agriculture, the future of farming, being able to follow, kicking up the dirt and landing planes in cotton fields.
During his conversation with Richard on the Arete podcast, Bruce Vandersee, CEO of Vanderfield Pty Ltd, refers to a passage about Moses from the bible, “Moses was the greatest man and the most humble”. It was fitting for Bruce to share the quote as humble is a quality that comes to mind when you sit down to talk with him. Bruce is modest, down-to-earth and genuine, and seemingly unaffected by the role he has played in the success of Vanderfield, the largest and most respected agricultural machinery and truck dealership in regional Australia.
Originally known as Farm Equipment Pty Ltd, Vanderfield was established in 1963 in Toowoomba, Queensland, by Bruce’s father, Gordon Vandersee, who designed and manufactured front-end loaders. Since then, Vandefield has grown to be a large John Deere dealership operating across Queensland, the Northern Territory and at the top end of Western Australia. The business now has 350 employees and 14 dealerships in Queensland alone, selling pieces of farm machinery in the million dollar price range.
Born in Clermont in Central Queensland, Bruce is one of five children, all of who are still Vanderfield shareholders. He joined the business as a young man after dropping out of a rural management degree. Bruce began his career in the spare parts department and worked in a variety of roles across the entire organisation before working his way through the ranks to assume the role of CEO. He is an astute salesman who genuinely enjoys working with clients and the company’s people. Bruce truly knows who the Vanderfield customer is and take great pleasure from collaborating with people in the agricultural industry and watching them develop new projects and ideas.
Bruce lives with his wife in Toowoomba but has recently purchased a small farm near the Bunya Mountains to live out his dream of being a farmer.
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