Spaans to chair DairyNZ board

"This is a challenging time for dairy farmers with the low milk price, the ongoing pressures of compliance and the constant community scrutiny of dairy farming," says Spaans.

"We are lifting our game but accelerating the pace of change in our industry has to be managed with the wellbeing of everyone in mind, including farmers and rural communities.

"DairyNZ is funded by farmers for farmers and all of the work we do is aimed at helping them succeed in their quest to farm competitively and responsibly," says Spaans.

Spaans was elected chairman of the industry good organisation at a special meeting of the board on Saturday.

He will serve an annual term as chair, leading an eight-member board, made up of five farmer-elected and three independent directors.

Spaans replaces long-serving chairman and former Cabinet minister John Luxton who retired from the DairyNZ board last month after 12 years of service on dairy industry bodies.

A dairy farmer from Te Aroha in the Waikato, Spaans is also a director of Fonterra.

He also has farming interests in Canterbury, Chile and the US; he also sits on the board of ASB Bank and is a chartered member of the Institute of Directors.

Spaans said there was interest in the role.

"That was a positive sign and we took the time to run a robust process to elect a chair."