"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 directors and shareholder councillors will go without a pay rise for a third straight year.
Though the director remunerations committee has signalled a pay rise is on the cards next year, it recommends director and councillor fees remain unchanged for 2016-17.
Chairman John Wilson gets $405,000 annual fees, directors get $165,000 and board committee chairmen are entitled to an extra $31,000. Fonterra Shareholders Council chairman Duncan Coull gets $90,000, his deputy $55,550 and councillors $30,000 each.
Fonterra shareholders will vote on the proposal at the co-op’s annual meeting at Darfield next week (Dec 8).
The remunerations committee has six shareholders and is chaired by Waikato farmer David Gasquoine; the committee met in August to review board and councillor fees.
According to Fonterra’s notice of meeting, the committee reviewed the market trends for director fees and the workload expectations for Fonterra directors; and it discussed relativities between different roles, the nature of the company and the challenging conditions now facing shareholders.
“The committee believes it is important to set realistic fee levels, having particular regard to the broader market and the workload requirements, to ensure skilled directors are attracted and retained on the board.
“The committee notes that the directors’ remuneration was not increased in 2014 and 2015, appropriate given the challenging economic conditions experienced by shareholders. Given the lengthy duration of the challenging conditions, it is again appropriate for remuneration levels to remain unchanged in the current year.”
But the committee notes that to attract and retain the best director candidates, and to align with the market, increases in remuneration will be required in the coming years.
On Shareholder Council fees, the committee foreshadowed a review of council wards with a view to reducing the number of wards and councillors.
“The committee recognises that if the number of Shareholders Council wards is reduced there may be an impact on councillors’ workload and expectations that may need to be addressed by the committee in 2017 when assessing appropriate remuneration levels.”
The annual meeting will also ratify the appointment of three independent directors -- sitting directors Simon Israel and David Jackson and new appointee Scott St John.
St John is a director of Fisher and Paykel Healthcare and the incoming chancellor of the University of Auckland.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
From 1 October, new livestock movement restrictions will be introduced in parts of Central Otago dealing with infected possums spreading bovine TB to livestock.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
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