A touch of madness : the inside story of a successful Southlander, a New Zealand primary industries entrepreneur / Keith Neylon.

The journey starts in Nightcaps -- Nightcaps richly developed my character -- From schoolboy to farmboy -- Following in father's footsteps -- On the sheep's back -- Accidents can happen -- From shearing to flying -- Joining the army -- Topdressing challenges -- A town divided -- The phoenix rises -- From fixed to rotary -- Alpine adventures -- Moving to Mountain -- North to Karamea -- Back south -- Shot at -- Back up north -- Life at Haast -- Gamechanger, the Hughes 500 -- Rex Giles offers $1m for Fiordland shooting rights -- Shaking up the Fiordland monopoly -- Promoted to Greymouth -- Consolidating in Greymouth -- Live capture gets serious -- Pilots I have known -- Consolidated expands -- Moving to Southland Helicopters -- Three year fight : Neylon v Wallis -- Live capture steps up -- Drug charges -- Hauroko Downs -- Thompson brothers -- First taste of mussels -- Salmon with asparagus on the side -- Murphy the Irishman -- Life on the farm -- Exiting Hauroko Downs -- Truffle adventures -- Blue River emerges -- Targeting China -- Expanding Blue River -- Enter Craigmore -- Pressure to produce -- Antara Ag -- Lessons learned.

"From humble beginnings in Nightcaps leaving school at 15, Keith Neylon MNZM has now had more than 50 years' involvement in New Zealand and international primary industries. This book tells of his early years as a farmhand, coal miner and shearer before taking to the skies as a pilot flying for ag aviation companies in Southland. Converting to helicopters, Keith then operated in deer eradication and recovery missions on the West Coast, Nelson, Southland, Otago and Canterbury during a significant period in New Zealand's history. Later on there were stints in the shellfish and salmon industries amongst others. The final part of the book concentrates on Keith's deer, dairy, beef and sheep farms and, in more recent years, developing sheep milking in Southland with Antara Ag and Blue River Dairy, a completely vertically integrated company, which is covered in depth. The book concludes with a brief mention of his interest in breeding and racing horses."--Back cover.