Ravensdown Pays First Rebate in Three Years on $50m Profit
When it comes to annual rebates, it's been a long time between drinks for Ravensdown shareholders.
Rangitikei hill country farmer Andrew Stewart has been elected the Western North Island farmer director.
Sitting Beef + Lamb NZ farmer director Scott Gower has been voted out by farmers.
The results of voting for the Western North Island electorate show Rangitikei hill country farmer Andrew Stewart getting 4233 weighted votes to Gower’s 3502 weighted votes – a winning margin of 731.
Stewart joins the B+LNZ board at its annual meeting in Rotorua next week.
B+LNZ board chair Kate Acland congratulated Stewart and thanked Gower for his work as the incumbent director.
“I know Andrew will bring new thinking and fresh ideas, along with a determination to be future-focused and I look forward to working with him on the board,” says Acland.
Turnout for this director election was just short of 13%, which is on par with other comparable organisations, says Acland.
“This was pleasing given it was the first year of moving to online- only voting. I really encourage farmers to get involved and have their say via the voting process whenever they have the opportunity” Acland says.
Gower will be formally farewelled after the annual meeting.
Acland thanked Gower for his six years of service.
“Scott has made a fantastic contribution during his time as director bringing a large-scale, grassroots hill country farming perspective to the board table. As chair of the people & culture committee he played an important role in the refresh of B+LNZ’s strategy and the appointment of our new CEO. I wish him all the very best for his next endeavours.”
A four year trial has reaffirmed that mixing plantain into dairy pastures can help reduce nitrogen losses to freshwater while maintaining milk production and profitability, say researchers.
Fonterra has opened its upgraded Chengdu Application Centre, bringing New Zealand dairy expertise closer to customers in one of China's fastest-growing regions.
When it comes to annual rebates, it's been a long time between drinks for Ravensdown shareholders.
Special courses for secondary school teachers to help excite kids about agriculture and horticulture are now being run at Massey University.
Running a tight and self-contained ship is the key to the success of the country's largest dairy farmer, says Blair Robinson, the new man at the helm of Dairy Holdings.
Federated Farmers president Colin Hurst and his family raised a glass of milk last week to toast the start of a new addition to their farming operation at Makihihi, south of Timaru.

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