Tuesday, 02 January 2024 09:31

State farmer pays tribute to Dr Warren Parker

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Dr Warren Parker Dr Warren Parker

State-owned farmer Pamu, formerly Landcorp Farming Ltd has paid tribute to its chair, Dr Warren Parker who passed away last week.

Pamu chief executive Mark Leslie said that “a great tree has fallen”.

Leslie says Parker was a highly respected primary sector leader and as Pāmu board chairperson, he made significant contributions to the organisation over his five years of dedicated service.

“It was an honour for me to have had Warren as a lecturer at Massey University nearly 30 years ago and then work shoulder-to-shoulder with his guidance and support when I joined Pāmu as CEO just under two years ago.

“Warren will be remembered for his vision, wisdom, and experience as well as his kindness which together have ensured a strong culture and clear strategic path for our organisation.”

Parker was appointed as chair of the Pāmu board on 1 January 2019. He was a former chief executive of Scion (the NZ Forest Research Institute) and Landcare Research and was previously chief operating officer of AgResearch. He held several board roles including on Predator Free 2050 Ltd, Farmlands Co-operative Society, Genomics Aotearoa and was the chair of the Forestry Ministerial Advisory Group. He was also chair of the New Zealand Conservation Authority and recently appointed independent chair of Quayside Holdings.

Parker had a PhD in animal science and was previously a professor of agribusiness and resource management at Massey University, where he spent 18 years in various roles, including supervising the 9,000-stock unit Riverside Farm in the Wairarapa.

Pamu deputy chair Nigel Atherfold has stepped in as interim chairperson.

More like this

Pāmu Opens Farm Gates for Summer Open Farm Days

State farmer Pāmu is opening its farm gates this summer in an effort to give the rural sector the opportunity to see how large-scale, multi-system farming is delivering productivity and profitability across New Zealand.

$10m Boost for Govt Coffers From Pāmu

State farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) has announced it will pay a $10 million special dividend to the Crown off the back of a strong outlook for the business and a capital repayment of $9.5 million following Fonterra's consumer business sale.

Featured

RSE Scheme Changes Coming - McClay

Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has admitted that a scheme bringing workers from Pacific nations to work on orchards has become too hard to navigate but says changes are coming.

Andy Macfarlane Joins AgriZeroNZ Board

Canterbury farmer Andy Macfarlane has been appointed to the board of AgriZeroNZ, the public-private partnership designed to accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reduction tools for New Zealand farmers.

National

Machinery & Products

 

 

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

True Reflection?

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any…

Civil Circus!

OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter