Rewarding farmers who embrace sustainability
Winners of DairyNZ’s Sustainability and Stewardship awards in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards have their eyes firmly fixed on progressing a positive future for New Zealand dairy.
THE new chairman of DairyNZ, Michael Spaans says farmers are facing challenges on several fronts.
"This is a challenging time for dairy farmers with the low milk price, the ongoing pressures of compliance and the constant community scrutiny of dairy farming," says Spaans.
"We are lifting our game but accelerating the pace of change in our industry has to be managed with the wellbeing of everyone in mind, including farmers and rural communities.
"DairyNZ is funded by farmers for farmers and all of the work we do is aimed at helping them succeed in their quest to farm competitively and responsibly," says Spaans.
Spaans was elected chairman of the industry good organisation at a special meeting of the board on Saturday.
He will serve an annual term as chair, leading an eight-member board, made up of five farmer-elected and three independent directors.
Spaans replaces long-serving chairman and former Cabinet minister John Luxton who retired from the DairyNZ board last month after 12 years of service on dairy industry bodies.
A dairy farmer from Te Aroha in the Waikato, Spaans is also a director of Fonterra.
He also has farming interests in Canterbury, Chile and the US; he also sits on the board of ASB Bank and is a chartered member of the Institute of Directors.
Spaans said there was interest in the role.
"That was a positive sign and we took the time to run a robust process to elect a chair."
OPINION: The recent Federated Farmers / Rabobank 2024 Farming Salaries Report revealed strong growth in farm salaries over the past two years.
The low unemployment environment is one of the key factors driving on-farm salaries higher over the past 24 months, says Rabobank general manager for country banking Bruce Weir.
Fonterra has appointed a new chief financial officer, seven months after its last CFO’s shock resignation.
A seminar on rural dispute resolution has been organised at Lincoln University, Christchurch this month.
The legacy of Dr Peter Snow continues to inspire as the recipients of the 2023 and 2024 Peter Snow Memorial Awards were announced at the recent National Rural Health Conference.
One of Fonterra’s global customers, Mars is launching an ambitious sustainable dairy plan to work with dairy farmers and cut emissions by 50%.