Wednesday, 25 November 2015 16:38

Fonterra farmers want smaller board - Wilson

Written by 
John Wilson and Theo Spierings. John Wilson and Theo Spierings.

Fonterra farmers want a smaller board, says co-op chairman John Wilson.

Wilson says that's the message he got from taking part in farmer meetings around the country during the director election campaign.

He says Fonterra board and Shareholders Council will soon embark on a major consultation process with shareholders

"We will have a discussion on the capability of the board and the mix between elected and appointed directors," says Wilson.

He says a lot of ground work has been done over the past three years.

The review committee will be made up of board and council members; outside consultants may be engaged as part of the review.

A discussion document will be released January; a special shareholders meeting will be called around June next year.

The Colin Armer/Greg Gent proposal to reduce the board to nine members was supported by 53.8% of farmers. However, the proposal needed 75% support to enable changes to the co-op constitution.

About 65% of shareholders, producing 73% of the co-op's total milk solids, turned out to vote

More like this

Fonterra trims board size

Fonterra’s board has been reduced to nine - comprising six farmer-elected and three appointed directors.

Chinese strategy

OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.

LCAs tackle false narratives

The quest to measure, report and make sense of the energy that goes into food production has come a long way in the past 25 years.

Featured

Fonterra trims board size

Fonterra’s board has been reduced to nine - comprising six farmer-elected and three appointed directors.

Boost for hort exports

The horticulture sector is a big winner from recent free trade deals sealed with the Gulf states, says Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.

Better animal genetic gain system

A governance group has been formed, following extensive sector consultation, to implement the recommendations from the Industry Working Group's (IWG) final report and is said to be forming a 'road map' for improving New Zealand's animal genetic gain system.

National

OSPRI's costly software upgrade

Animal disease management agency OSPRI has announced sweeping governance changes as it seeks to recover from the expensive failure of…

Machinery & Products

BA Pumps expand

Cambridge based BA Pumps & Sprayers, specialists in New Zealand-made spraying equipment, has acquired Tokoroa Engineering’s product range, including the…

Entries open for innovation award

Fieldays and its renowned Innovation Awards are celebrating their 57th year, marking a longstanding tradition in the agricultural calendar, with…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Chinese strategy

OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.

Not fair

OPINION: The Listener's latest piece on winter grazing among Southland dairy farmers leaves much to be desired.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter