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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.
Federated Farmers says new legislation replacing the Resource Management Act will cut red tape, unlock investment and help grow New Zealand's export-led economy, after the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill passed their third reading in Parliament yesterday.
Leading figures from the major political parties will be questioned on their primary sector policies at the Rural Issues Debate at Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton, on 30 September.
Will the good times last? That's one of the key issues to come out of the latest Federated Farmers confidence survey.
Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers arable chair, Bevan Lill, said Beef + Lamb NZ data indicated that for the last six years, the average arable return on investment was about 0.8% while inflation ran about 4% - so the average arable farm was going backwards at about 3% a year.
For the first time in a quarter of a century, Federated Farmers has something positive to say about the Labour Party’s climate change policy leading into a general election.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.
Fonterra has unveiled its annual results for the 2026 financial year, posting $27 billion in revenue and close to $20 billion returned to New Zealand farmer owners and unit holders.
The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.
Ravensdown shareholders have elected Jane Montgomery and Kate Acland to the Ravensdown Board for three-year terms, following a closely contested director election.
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