Tuesday, 06 August 2019 09:55

DairyNZ seeks new associate directors

Written by 
DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel. DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel.

DairyNZ is seeking two associate directors and encourages applications from farmers interested in governance.

Each year, DairyNZ’s board adds two associate directors – dairy farmers interested in leadership and contributing to dairy sector governance. 

Each associate director is appointed for six board meetings in a non-voting role.

DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel said the directorships enable farmers to contribute to their industry-good body and participate in discussion and debate.

“We introduced the associate director roles in 2013 to achieve greater direct input from our dairy farmers and to enable them to gain experience in how our board operates,” said van der Poel.

“Since then we’ve had nine associate directors who have all been hugely valuable, contributing alongside our eight directors.”

Last year’s associate directors, Cole Groves and Anne-Marie Wells, each joined the board for six meetings.

Wells, of Dunedin, is an owner/operator and director of a 640 cow dairy farm. She and her husband Duncan were the 2015 Dairy Business of the Year supreme winners. She was involved in the Fonterra governance development programme while being an associate director. 

“It provided the opportunity to put my governance learning into practice in a supportive environment, and I contributed to the sector and gained new insights along the way,” said Wells.

“For people interested in governance, getting involved gives you the chance to see high level governance in action.”

Cole Groves, of Ashburton, is in a 450 cow equity partnership. Among several sector roles, he has strong ties to New Zealand Young Farmers. 

“I gained a lot of confidence in my governance ability at a boardroom level, and also got exposure to new policy setting and expanding my networking,” said Groves. 

To apply, send a covering letter and curriculum vitae to: The company secretary, DairyNZ Inc, Private Bag 3221, Hamilton 3240 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

More like this

Featured

Editorial: KiwiSaver to the rescue?

OPINION: Farmers are rightly urging the Government to relax the rules around KiwiSaver and allow young farmers to use their savings towards purchasing either a house, cows or a farm.

National

Machinery & Products

Hose runner saves time and effort

Rakaia-based equipment manufacturer Pluck’s Engineering will soon start production of a new machine designed to simplify the deployment and retrieval…

Case IH partners with Meet the Need

Tractor manufacturer and distributor Case IH has announced a new partnership with Meet the Need, the grassroots, farmer-led charity working to…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Free speech

OPINION: The Free Speech Union is taking this one too far.

Drug survey

OPINION: New national data from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), a leading workplace drug tester, shows methamphetamine (meth) use is…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter