Thursday, 13 September 2018 07:55

First woman head for NZ Young Farmers

Written by 
NZYF chief executive Lynda Coppersmith. NZYF chief executive Lynda Coppersmith.

Agribusiness leader Lynda Coppersmith has been appointed the first woman chief executive of NZ Young Farmers, from October 1.

Coppersmith (48) is currently a senior account manager with the accounting software company MYOB in Christchurch.

“The more woman chief executives we have the better; diversity is important,” she says.

“If the primary industries are to meet growth targets, they must connect with young women.”

“I’m hoping my appointment and having Ash-Leigh chairing our board will send a positive signal to women about our sector,” she says.

She has spent the past six years in management positions at MYOB. Prior to that she worked for DairyNZ, was a business development manager for LIC and an area manager for Fonterra in Timaru.

“Lynda has great relationship building skills, excellent business acumen and experience dealing with grassroots farmer issues,” said NZ Young Farmers board chair Ash-Leigh Campbell.

“That will stand her in good stead working with our membership and the organisation’s other key stakeholders.”

Coppersmith is married with two teenage children. Her daughter Sophie attends Christchurch Girls’ High School and has friends in the school’s TeenAg club which is run by NZ Young Farmers.

Outside of work, Coppersmith likes to travel and study.

“We’ve spent a bit of time travelling through Southeast Asia and we’ve lived in Australia,” she says.

Coppersmith is completing an MBA through the University of Canterbury.

More like this

Jersey 'right balance' field day

The future of sustainable, profitable and environmentally friendly dairying will be on full display at the upcoming 'The Right Balance' field day at NZ Young Farmers' Donald Farm in South Auckland.

Road to grand final continues

The first FMG Young Farmer of the Year Regional Final will kick off at the Helensville Showgrounds this Saturday.

Young Farmers prepare for Grand Final

New Zealand’s best young farmers are pledging to ‘leave it all on the table’ as they prepare to battle it out at one of New Zealand’s most prestigious farming contests.

Featured

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Editorial: No joking matter

OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.

National

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

Machinery & Products

Leader balers arrive in NZ

Officially launched at the National Fieldays event in June, the Leader in-line conventional PRO 1900 balers are imported and distributed…

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter