Meat co-op dilemma
Meat processor Alliance Group's cash-strapped farmer shareholders face a dilemma - either pour more money into the co-operative or risk losing 100% ownership and control.
He replaces Owen Poole effective from October 1. Poole announced at shareholder meetings of the company in 2012 that it was his intention to retire this year. He is retiring as chairman and as a director on September 30.
Taggart was a farmer-elected director from 2002 to 2007 and was re-elected to the board in 2010. He is a member of the Group's audit and risk committee. Murray is a director of Ballance Agri Nutrients Ltd. He was a Nuffield Scholar in 1996 and a regional recipient of an FMG Rural Excellence Award in 2006.
Murray farms a 457 hectare sheep and cropping unit under irrigation in the Oxford district of North Canterbury.
Poole was the chief executive of Alliance Group from 1995 to 2005 and was appointed to the board as an independent director in 2008. He has been chairman since his appointment to the board.
The board of Alliance Group comprises nine directors, six elected by farmer shareholders and three independent directors appointed for the commercial skills they bring to the board.
