A Year of Delivery for Fonterra
Fonterra’s 2026 financial year was a year of delivery, with record volumes of milk collected, processed and shipped by the co-op.
Three sitting Fonterra directors - chairman Peter McBride, Leonie Guiney and John Nicholls - have been re-elected to the board for another three-year term.
The three directors were the only candidates for board elections this year: however new election rules mean a candidate must get over 50% of the votes cast to be elected.
Fonterra Co-operative Council chairman James Barron announced that shareholders had voted to re-elect the three sitting directors.
Elections were also held in three council wards.
In Ward 10 (Northern Bay of Plenty) Don Hammond was re-elected.
In Ward 13 (Central Taranaki) Karyn Johnson and in Ward 19 (Tasman / Marlborough) Simon Tripe defeated their opponents to get elected to the council for the first time.
In the seven other Co-operative Council wards where elections were due, nominees were elected unopposed.
They are: Ward 1 (Northern Northland) Peter Giesbers, Ward 2(Central Northland) Greg Collins, Ward 7 (Waipa) Mike Montgomerie, Ward 16 (Central Districts West) Megan Cushnahan, Ward 21 (Central Canterbury) Mark Slee, Ward 22 (South Canterbury) Mark Cressey and Ward 25 (Western Southland) Kevin Dixon.
Giesbers, Collins, Cushnahan, Cressey and Dixon are new councillors.
Three men have been sentenced in District Courts after Ministry for Primary Industries prosecutions over animal welfare, food safety and cattle tracing offences.
Fonterra’s 2026 financial year was a year of delivery, with record volumes of milk collected, processed and shipped by the co-op.
OPINION: The Government's decision to reinstate agriculture and horticultural science as a standalone subject from Year 11 is the right one.
Dairy farmers, still holding onto their Fonterra shares despite switching milk supply elsewhere or exiting the industry, now face a stricter share sell-down requirement.
Hamilton-based agritech company Aimer Farming has completed a $3 million capital raise to support its next stage of growth, including a beef farming product due to launch in 2027.
When dairy manager Miriam Lauridsen learned the farm, she was joining held weekly health and safety meetings, she initially thought that was “a bit over the top”. Experiencing that culture changed her mind.
OPINION: It seems Canterbury processor Synlait is still in the doldrums.
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