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Fonterra shareholder and Cambridge farmer Garry Reymer.
Fonterra shareholder and Cambridge farmer Garry Reymer wants Fonterra to include capital structure on the agenda at the next round of farmer meetings.
Reymer believes that the governance and representation as well as capital structure are interconnected, and both are important to the survival of the co-op.
"If we go back first for a bit of history, it was common to have a dairy co-op in almost every small rural centre. When that was the case, the farmers all knew the board personally. They saw them at the footy club, church, school or wherever. They all had active discussions and farmers felt involved and connected. As the mergers took place, this was held together by better transport to larger centres and more regional co-ops with 'ward' director, so somene with a close connection to your region.
"Fonterra now has no wards, and four of the eleven directors are not even farmers (appointed by the board) and Fonterra wants to reduce the size of its board.
"To make it worse, from a farmer representation point of view only, the definition of 'farmer director' is very loose and if you are a trustee of a farming company you qualify as a farmer director; this can make that director no different from an appointed director."
OPINION: There is zero chance that someone who joined Fonterra as a lobbyist, then served as a general manager of Fonterra's nutrient management programme, and sat on the board of Export NZ, a division of lobbyist group Business New Zealand, doesn't understand that local butter (and milk and cheese) prices are set by the international commodity price.
Kiwis love their butter, and that's great because New Zealand produces some of the best butter in the world. But when the price of butter goes up, it's tough for some, particularly when many other grocery staples have also gone up and the heat goes on co-operative Fonterra, the country's main butter maker. Here the co-op explains why butter prices are so high right now.
An A$2 billion bid for Fonterra's Oceania business would be great news, according to Forsyth Barr senior analyst, equities, Matt Montgomerie.
The world's largest dairy company may be in pole position to acquire Fonterra's Australian assets.
Over 85% of Fonterra farmer suppliers will be eligible for customer funding up to $1,500 for solutions designed to drive on-farm efficiency gains and reduce emissions intensity.
The Innovation Awards at June's National Fieldays showcased several new ideas, alongside previous entries that had reached commercial reality.
To assist the flower industry in reducing waste and drive up demand, Wonky Box has partnered with Burwood to create Wonky Flowers.
Three new directors are joining Horticulture New Zealand’s board from this month.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) says proposed changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will leave the door wide open for continued conversions of productive sheep and beef farms into carbon forestry.
Federated Farmers says a report to Parliament on the subject of a ban on carbon forestry does not go far enough to prevent continued farm to forestry conversions.
New Zealand Apples and Pears annual conference was a success with delegates and exhibitors alike making the most of three days of exhibitions, tours, insightful discussions, valuable networking and thoughtful presentations.
