Fonterra stalwart bows out

The fifth-generation dairy farmer and a founding Fonterra shareholder has come full circle; his Oreipunga Road farm in south Waikato is on the market and he's preparing to leave the dairy after an "enjoyable" stunt.

With none of his children interested in dairying, the Fonterra Co-operative Council member says the time is right to bow out. Five years ago, he obtained a masters degree in environmental and agricultural law from Waikato University.

"The only reason I'm going out of farming is because none of my kids are interested to continue the family tradition," he told Dairy News.

"There may possibly be another career - we'll have to wait and see."

Montgomerie, whos family is well-known in Auckland and Waikato farming circles, says he switched to dairy farming because he wasn't enjoying being a junior lawyer in a big Wellington firm.

"From being an underling at a corporate law firm to being your own boss on a Waikato farm was great."

Montgomerie started as a lower order sharemilker on his dad's farm. With family help, he rose through the ranks into farm ownership. Over the years he farmed a series of dairy farms around Cambridge.

He's a great supporter of the co-operative model and believes a strong Fonterra is crucial for the NZ dairy industry.

While Montgomerie is happy with Fonterra's current strategy, six years ago he was on the verge of leaving the co-op, frustrated with its performance.

"I like where Fonterra is today, I like its strategic direction, focusing on NZ's milk completely works for me," he says.

"But five years ago, I was very close to leaving. Then I decided to stand for the council and try do my tiny bit to help.

"Hopefully I have done my bit.

"I'm certainly much more satisfied with the co-op today than I was five years ago."

In 2020, Montgomerie chaired the council's governance & ethics committee and was one of two council representatives on the steering group that led the review of council. He is the current chair of the guardianship committee and has also chaired the connection committee.

He believes the council is crucial for Fonterra's farmer shareholders. The split of governance and representation is important in the co-operative, he points out.

"Council fulfils the important representation role because as farmers we are so much more than just shareholders," he says.

"I think that sometimes that gets lost. For example, if you own shares in a corporate on NZX, the day you don't like that corporate anymore, you ring your broker, sell your shares are out of there tomorrow.

"But we are so much more intertwined with our co-op. That's why the council is important, to be a voice for farmers."

According to Montgomerie, Fonterra shareholders are more than "normal investors" in any other company.

They are owners with countrol of the co-op, suppliers who send their milk to Fonterra processing plants, investors with capital injected into the company and members of the Fonterra community.

"We all have Fonterra signs on our gate; whatever Fonterra does in public and in the community affects us all," he says.

"So, it's being more than a just shareholder, it's different to normal investment in any other company.

"Having the council as a voice of farmers that connects with the co-op is totally worth it."