increase font size
Brent Goldsack.
A capital structure that gives farmers flexibility is a priority for re-elected Fonterra director Brent Goldsack.
He says the board will have a dialogue with farmers on a capital structure that matches its strategy for more value added earnings and a sustainable milk supply.
Goldsack says the co-operative will remain 100% owned by New Zealand farmers.
The Waikato farmer and former financial adviser with PwC is humbled to be re-elected by farmers for another three-year term. Goldsack polled the highest votes among six candidates.
“It’s a privilege and great honour to serve on the Fonterra board,” he told Dairy News.
“This is an industry and a cooperative that I am positive about. I feel a great sense of responsibility.”
Goldsack says as a director he is part of the team of board members and is proud of what the team has achieved in the last three years.
He lists the revised strategy, changing advance rates for payout and the Co-op Difference programme as some of the board’s achievements.
There’s no doubt a lot of work is ongoing, he adds. Goldsack is currently chair of the co-operative relations committee, a member of the milk price panel, the safety and risk committee, the capital structure committee, the divestment review committee, and the disclosure committee.
In addition, he serves as the Fonterra representative on the ‘Dairy Tomorrow’ Steering Group – which focuses on the strategy for the dairy industry.
He also holds several governance roles, including director of Rabobank and chair of Waitomo Petroleum Group. He was previously on the board of Canterbury Grasslands Limited and the New Zealand National Fieldays Society.
His family owns three dairy farms in the Waikato milking 1,500 cows.
In the past, much has been made of the concept of farm to fork, but an Australian expert in food science and marketing with experience in the dairy industry, Dr Angeline Achariya, says the reverse of this slogan is critical to win modern day consumers.
A four year trial has reaffirmed that mixing plantain into dairy pastures can help reduce nitrogen losses to freshwater while maintaining milk production and profitability, say researchers.
Fonterra has opened its upgraded Chengdu Application Centre, bringing New Zealand dairy expertise closer to customers in one of China's fastest-growing regions.
Tatua chair Stephen Allen says he leaves the co-op with a deep sense of gratitude for the people who have contributed to its success.
Federated Farmers president Colin Hurst and his family raised a glass of milk last week to toast the start of a new addition to their farming operation at Makihihi, south of Timaru.
Testing confirms H5 bird flu in a single northern giant petrel, found dead on a remote Cape Palliser beach in the Wairarapa, says Dr Mary van Andel, the Ministry for Primary Industries' (MPI) Chief Veterinary Officer.
"What's for dinner?" may sound like a simple question, but for many Kiwi parents, answering it has become a job in itself.
Fifty Eight years ago, on the 16th of August 1968, August Claas, the founder of the harvesting company and father of Helmut Claas, personally presented a Claas Senator combine harvester to Scottish farmer John Steven.
New Zealand consumers are paying more for beef mince than ever before, with the average retail price now sitting above $24 per kilogram, according to Rabobank.
State farmer Pamu has delivered its strongest operating result on record.
Four years since it was first detected in New Zealand, researchers and growers now know much more about management of maize pest fall armyworm (FAW).
OPINION: After hogging the media limelight for telling a NZ Chinese MP to "go back home", Winston Peters has decided…
OPINION: With fuel prices soaring, one would have expected most farmers to be reclaiming excise duty on petrol.
