Farm Safety Improves Through 'Incremental Gain', Says Birkett
Improving health and safety is about incremental gain rather than a sudden decision, says Leeston farmer and Federated Farmers health and safety spokesman David Birkett.
Siermans had been with Federated Farmers since September last year, following Terry Copeland's departure after seven years in the role.
Before joining the farmer lobby, Siermans built a commercial career across fast-moving consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and technology.
He held senior sales and marketing roles at Douglas Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer Animal Health, and most recently at Taura Natural Ingredients.
Siermans sees his broad commercial experience as central to his role at Federated Farmers.
"Federated Farmers is a very special organisation that's played a major role in New Zealand's history for over 125 years," Siermans says.
"My job as CEO is to make sure we've got the right strategy, team and culture that's going to set us up to succeed for the next 125 years.
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"That means we'll continue to modernise the organisation, with a real focus on creating sustainable revenue streams and finding new ways to grow our products and services.
"I want to make sure Federated Farmers has the resources to keep employing the best advocates, communicators and policy experts, so we can deliver real results for Kiwi farmers.
"Federated Farmers has always been the true voice for farming in New Zealand and I want to play a role in helping make that voice even stronger."
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says Siermans brings extensive senior leadership and commercial experience that set him apart from other candidates.
"This is a significant appointment for Federated Farmers. We conducted a significant search for the right person, with many strong candidates having the experience and qualities we are looking for in a CEO," Langford says.
"Having worked closely with Mike over the last few months, I'm confident we've found the right leader for our team who will help us deliver our ambitious strategy for membership growth.
"Mike's experience in sales, marketing and corporate management will be a huge asset for our organisation. He understands that strong advocacy needs to be backed by sharp commercial nous."
Langford says he's looking forward to working with Siermans and his team to make sure Federated Farmers is a well-oiled, modern machine set up to deliver outcomes for farmers.
"Federated Farmers is sitting in a really strong position. We've got a clear vision, a strong strategy, and an exceptionally talented team helping to deliver it.
"The organisation's results speak for themselves, with clear messaging, a long list of major policy wins, and a membership base growing for the first time in a generation.
"It's now Mike's job to pick that up and continue to build on that platform."
Siermans and his wife live in Tauranga, and they have three adult children.
