Medals galore for Fonterra cheeses
Fonterra cheeses are continuing their golden run at the annual New Zealand Cheese Awards.
New Fonterra director Peter McBride says he is overwhelmed with the response in the election.
“I want farmers to know I will do my very best and I will work hard for them,” he told Dairy News.
“It was a good result. I was quite surprised at the outcome with only two people making it through but I guess that is the system.”
He says going into the election he was concerned the farmers may “just see me as a kiwifruit guy”.
“But I think when they got to meet me in person and heard what I had to say then they understood I had something to offer”.
He says his first priority on the board will be to listen. “When you go onto boards you have got to be really careful just to take your time,” he says.
“My main plan is to try and get my head around the business. It is a very large complex business so my aim is to just to spend time with the senior executive and get as much insight into the business as I possibly can. And just contribute wherever I can.
“In the first six months you have got to do a lot of listening, not a lot of talking.”
McBride will step down as chairman of Zespri in February and retire as a Zespri director at the annual general meeting in July next year.
Asked if he would be ready for the Fonterra chairmanship if the directors wanted him to, he said it was too premature to even talk about it.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
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