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Toby Williams
In a surprise move, Federated Farmers meat and wool group has dumped its chair Toby Williams.
The Gisborne farmer lost the chairmanship to Marlborough provincial vice president Richard Dawkins during the council annual meeting in Christchurch this afternoon. Dawkins had a mounted a challenge.
Williams had chaired the group since November 2002. Normally, Feds executives serve a minimum of three years in a role.
He was leading the Feds’ ‘Save our Sheep’ campaign, calling for urgent action to halt the collapse of New Zealand’s sheep industry. The campaign claimed that each year the sector is losing tens of thousands of hectares of productive farmland - where sheep and lambs once grazed, pine trees are taking their place.
Williams also loses his seat as a board member – three of the Feds’ six group chairs are elected to serve on the board. Three board members will be chosen at Feds’ annual meeting in Christchurch tomorrow morning.
Willaim’s dumping means there will be two new board members on the national executive. Federated Farmers dairy chair and national board member Richard McIntyre stepped down after serving three years in the role.
North Canterbury provincial president Karl Dean is the new national dairy chair. He was elected unopposed after Waikato president Phil Sherwood withdraw his nomination at the last minute.
New figures show dairy farmers are not only holding on to their international workforce, but are also supporting those staff to step into higher-skilled roles on farm.
Federated Farmers has confirmed interim chief executive Mike Siermans to the role.
According to the latest Federated Farmers banking survey, farmers are more satisfied with their bank and less under pressure, however, the sector is well short of confidence levels seen last decade.
OPINION: Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ for ‘The Twelve Pests of Christmas’ to highlight the most troublesome farm pests – a serious issue that needs some urgent attention from the Beehive.
Farmers are welcoming the announcement of two new bills to replace the under-fire Resource Management Act.
One of New Zealand’s longest-running pasture growth monitoring projects will continue, even as its long-time champion steps away after more than five decades of involvement.
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Additional reductions to costs for forest owners in the Emissions Trading Scheme Registry (ETS) have been announced by the Government.
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