Farmers to vote on pay rise for B+LNZ directors

According to B+LNZ annual meeting documents, the director independent remuneration committee (DIRC) is recommending a 9% pay rise, for the 10-member board, that includes an associate director.

If approved at the annual meeting next month, chair Kate Acland’s fees will rise from $76,220 to $90,000 and each director’s fees will jump from $38,110 to $45,000.

That total director fees pool will lift by $73,500 - from $401,500 to $475,000 per annum.

When reviewing director fees, the committee considered market information including benchmarking for B+LNZ provided by Strategic Pay and the

Institute of Directors. Both surveys reference types of industries like agriculture, cooperative, private sector and by number of employees.

The committee says it has considered other similar organisations such as DairyNZ and Federated Farmers.

“DIRC considers the B+LNZ director fees should be at the low end of the upper quartile of benchmarking and be competitive with other representative organisations to attract the expertise to address complex issues,” the committee says.

B+LNZ director fees were last increased at the 2022 annual meeting by 3%.

To avoid large one-off increases, the committee recommends director fees be reviewed and adjusted annually to avoid large one-off increases.

Voting packs were sent to farmers yesterday. The annual general meeting will be held in Nelson on Tuesday, March 19.

“The decision to propose an increase was not taken lightly. We know farmers are experiencing significant financial pressures on the back of weaker livestock prices and high on-farm costs," says Acland.

“DIRC’s benchmarking shows that B+LNZ’s director fees lag significantly behind other industry organisations like Federated Farmers and DairyNZ."