"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.
OPINION: Fonterra's annual general meeting earlier this month was mostly a peaceful affair.
About 200 farmer shareholders flocked to the ILT Stadium, Southland to hear the co-op leaders ask for more time to turn around the business.
With Fonterra posting net losses for two consecutive years, we would have expected more fireworks at the meeting. There was a flutter of excitement when one shareholder called for more fans “as the air is going to get hotter”.
But apart from a few calls for chairman John Monaghan to resign, it was mostly business as usual for most shareholders.
It’s clear that Fonterra shareholders are willing to give the new management team and directors time to turn the business around.
Monaghan retires by rotation at the next annual meeting and he is likely to pass the chairman’s baton in the new year to a chairman-designate and help with a smooth transition before stepping down in November.
Who will take that baton remains to be seen. There’s Peter McBride, with a proven track record at Zespri. One farmer director with an outside chance would be outspoken Fairlie farmer Leonie Guiney, who fought her way back onto the board after being sidelined by former chairman John Wilson.
Some shareholders are floating the idea of Fonterra embracing its first woman chair.
If Monaghan goes, as is widely expected, this would leave a new ‘top three’ to steer the co-op. The shareholders council has appointed fourth generation Matamata farmer James Barron as its new chair. With Miles Hurrell settling comfortably into his role as chief executive, a new chair would give the co-op the impetus to start a new era.
Fonterra is implementing a new strategy: focusing on New Zealand milk rather than striving to be a global co-op.
The shareholders council will spend the next 12 months reviewing its role and functions. And next year will see the required five-yearly review of the 2016 governance and representation revamp.
Change is in the air for Fonterra. In October 2021 it will celebrate its 20th birthday.
Right now Fonterra farmers and unit investors have little to cheer about. Granted, it is paying a competitive milk price at the farmgate but its financial performance still leaves much to be desired.
There is optimism that the co-op is on the road to recovery. Farmer owners have made it clear that rather than being the butt of jokes they want to walk with heads held high. They will be hoping that when the 20th birthday is celebrated in 22 months such pride will be justified.
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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