Editorial: Sensible move
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Federated Farmers dairy vice chairman Richard McIntyre says the associate director scheme run by DairyNZ is awesome and he would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.
The role allows the two successful candidates to join the board for a year and fully participate in all the discussions but they do not have voting rights. The aim is to provide up and coming leaders in the sector with experience in governance. DairyNZ has just concluded a recruitment campaign for its next two associate directors.
McIntyre is about half way through his term as an associate director and is full of praise for this DairyNZ initiative. He says he’s been encouraged to participate in the debate at board meetings and told not to just sit there and listen.
“They encourage you to voice your opinion and share it with the rest of the board. It is great in that respect because I have never felt like I couldn’t or shouldn’t contribute. They assigned you a mentor on the board so that you talk about how meetings have gone and about your contributions, and to see if you could have asked a question in a better way or more constructively, which is really cool,” he says.
McIntyre says he’s had the opportunity to talk to other board members and they are keen to help and give good feedback. He says reading through board papers gives one a great insight into the dairy industry.
He says he applied for the role because he wanted to broaden his knowledge and experience in the area of governance.
McIntyre says his roles in Federated Farmers have mainly been in the area of representation and saw the associate director role as a great opportunity to build on that and gain new skills for future governance positions.
Already he is involved in two governance roles – as councillor for Fish and Game and as member of the Dairy Industry Awards Trust.
McIntyre says every year he endeavours to do some form of personal development and looking to the future he is keen to get on the Fonterra Governance Development Programme.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
Holstein Friesian excellence was front and centre at the 2025 Holstein Friesian NZ (HFNZ) Awards, held recently in Invercargill.
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its…
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content…