This story on Stuff is of interest to me, because Pita was my mentor when I was looking for ideas to get a start in farming, and his views and forthright principles I have admired to this day.
Not one to seek personal glory or display wealth, he has been a huge influence in many farmers lives, as he has helped develop their business acumen.
Unconventional farm accountant Pita Alexander, who loves work, profits, debt reduction and tennis in about that order, has taken his second gong with typical off-beat humour.
His quirky response was honed from making more than 500 farm talks.
"I am surprised because I haven't been in the phonebook for 35 years. I'm still a workaholic and on my first marriage with two kids, one of whom is working for me and the other is a clinical psychologist."
" She is getting very difficult to argue with and they both think I am difficult, hard-nosed and worth borrowing from."
Alexander has 20 staff in his difficult-to-find practice and has mentored 14 accountants, many of whom have gone on to form their own businesses, servicing a combined 2000 farmers.
His own practice is the largest specialised farm accountancy firm in New Zealand and he has no plans to retire.
Throughout his career he has always saved a third of his income.
This presentation gives an excellent idea of the style of the man. He appears starting at 3:30 minutes in.
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