increase font size
Karen Williams
Wairarapa sheep and beef farmer Karen Williams is the new chief executive of Irrigation New Zealand.
Williams, the national client propositions manager at FMG, starts in her new role on February 24.
She's a former Federated Farmers leader, having served as chair of its arable section, national vice president and board member.
Williams farms an irrigated 560ha mixed cropping, beef, and lamb finishing property in the Wairarapa with her husband Mick. They are past Supreme winners for the Wellington region in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
She’s a graduate of the Agri-Women’s Development Trust’s Escalator Programme and also received the Biosecurity Farmer of the Year Award in 2019 for her work on the pea weevil biosecurity incursion, and the couple won the Environmental and Sustainability Award at the 2022 NZ Arable Awards.
Williams says she’s excited to take on a new challenge and sees the chief executive officer role at Irrigation New Zealand as a natural progression to her career.
“Having held other executive and Board roles, this is an opportunity for me to combine my skills and experience, while also allowing me to help advocate for a sector I’m passionate about. There are synergies with the work I’ve been doing at FMG too – we’re both about getting better outcomes for farmers, growers and rural communities and that includes wider water users too.”
Chair of Irrigation New Zealand, Keri Johnston says Williams’ appointment to CEO comes at an interesting time.
“It’s a critical time for New Zealand in terms of how we safeguard our water for different uses, so getting Karen at the helm now is timely for advocating the best direction for irrigation in New Zealand.”
A rare weather double-whammy has seen many South Island farmers having to deal with unseasonal snow while still cut off from power supplies after an unprecedented windstorm.
OPINION: Recent media commentary from Southland Federated Farmers has raised concerns among our rural communities, particularly around Environment Southland’s approach to winter grazing inspections and nitrogen reporting. But let’s be clear, much of what’s been said simply doesn’t reflect reality.
OPINION: Environment Canterbury's (ECan) decision recently to declare a so-called “nitrate emergency” is laughable.
A shameless political stunt is how Federated Farmers is describing the Canterbury Regional Council decision to declare “a nitrate emergency” on the back of its latest annual groundwater quality survey.
Federated Farmers say Environment Canterbury's decision to declare a 'nitrate emergency' is a shameless political stunt that won't help anyone.
With the current situation in the European farm machinery market being described as difficult at best, it’s perhaps no surprise that the upcoming AgriSIMA 2026 agricultural machinery exhibition, scheduled for February 2026 at Paris-Nord Villepinte, has been cancelled.
The Meat Industry Association of New Zealand (MIA) has launched the first in-market activation of the refreshed Taste Pure Nature country-of-origin brand with an exclusive pop-up restaurant experience in Shanghai.
Jayna Wadsworth, daughter of the late New Zealand wicketkeeper Ken Wadsworth, has launched an auction of cricket memorabilia to raise funds for I Am Hope's youth mental health work.
As we move into the 2025/26 growing season, the Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA) reports that the third quarter results for the year to date is showing that the stagnated tractor market of the last 18 months is showing signs of recovery.
DairyNZ chair Tracy Brown is urging dairy farmers to participate in the 2026 Levy vote, to be held early next year.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling for nominations for director roles in the Eastern North Island and Southern South Island electoral districts.
OPINION: Microplastics are turning up just about everywhere in the global food supply, including in fish, cups of tea, and…
OPINION: At a time when dairy prices are at record highs, no one was expecting the world's second largest dairy…
