Ravensdown Elects Montgomery, Acland to Board
Ravensdown shareholders have elected Jane Montgomery and Kate Acland to the Ravensdown Board for three-year terms, following a closely contested director election.
Ravensdown has appointed Steve Belton as the new regional manager, Western North Island.
He replaces long-serving employee Mike Davey, who retires on March 31. Belton takes over on February 3: the two-month overlap will help make for an easier transition for both staff and the local farming community.
Belton says Davey is leaving behind some big boots to fill.
Raised on a sheep and beef farm near the North Canterbury township of Waikari, farming is in Belton’s blood.
After graduating from Lincoln University with an agricultural science degree, Belton began his career in the rural sector. Not long after, he landed his first role at Ravensdown as an account manager based out of Nelson.
After six years in the role, he went on to work as an agronomist and finance manager before coming back to Ravensdown in 2017 as the Upper North Island Regional Manager.
The father of two says that the move to Taranaki will be a big change for both himself and his family, but he’s keen to hit the ground running and is looking forward to the challenge.
“One of my first tasks will be to meet local farmers, learn about the environment and their needs and make myself available to my new community.”
After 35 years with Farmer’s Fertiliser Ltd and more than 20 with Ravensdown, Davey is calling it a day.
“I’m going to miss it, but the locals will still see me around,” he says.
Canterbury milk processor Synlait has come through tough times and is now ready to scale up from a stable base, says its newly confirmed CEO Leon Fung.
NZPork says a ham made in New Zealand is not necessarily made from New Zealand pork.
Rural Contractors NZ says proposed changes to land transport rules for agricultural vehicles are a welcome response by the Government to out-of-date regulations which have seen members hit with huge fines.
With New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions in the spotlight, Auckland scientist Nathan Balasingham says there’s a better way to tackle the problem than shrinking cow numbers or fertiliser usage.
Massey University vice chancellor Pierre Venter says his institute is moving from a period of austerity into a growth phase, based on their new strategy.
With the red meat sector going through a boom time with high prices, the time is right for the industry to step up its investment into developing new food products.

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