"Our" business?
OPINION: One particular bone the Hound has been gnawing on for years now is how the chattering classes want it both ways when it comes to the success of NZ's dairy industry.
Fonterra says it will bring a revised governance structure for vote before shareholders by the end of this year.
The co-op has failed to get the 75% support needed to reduce its board size, from 13 to 11.
The board's proposal received 63.7% support from shareholders who voted; 58.6% of total shareholders took part in the vote.
Chairman John Wilson says personally he is delighted that nearly two-thirds of farmer shareholders supported the proposal.
He says there is a strong desire for change and he is confident the co-op will land on a model that is right for its shareholders.
"There is a strong desire for change among our farmer shareholder base," he says.
"Farmers want a system that will bring knowledgeable people to our board.
"We must change the current system; we proposed some significant changes and not everyone supported them."
Wilson says the main feedback from farmers was that under the proposed system they were not able to choose between all the candidates.
Wilson says the board will go back to the drawing board and bring a revised plan before shareholders by the end of this year.
"We cannot stand still."
A landmark New Zealand trial has confirmed what many farmers have long suspected - that strategic spring nitrogen use not only boosts pasture growth but delivers measurable gains in lamb growth and ewe condition.
It was recently announced that former MP and Southland farmer Eric Roy has stepped down of New Zealand Pork after seven years. Leo Argent talks with Eric about his time at the organisation and what the future may hold.
It's critical that the horticulture sector works together as part of a goal to double the sector’s exports by 2035.
RaboResearch, the research arm of specialist agriculture industry banker Rabobank, sees positives for the Alliance Group in its proposed majority-stake sale to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
The ACT Party's call for a better deal on the Paris Agreement on climate change is being backed by farmer organisations.
A 50% tariff slapped by the US on goods from India last month has opened an opportunity for New Zealand wool carpets exports to North America.