Wednesday, 24 November 2021 07:55

Tributes to a dairy champion

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Born in Morrinsville, John Luxton came from a family of dairy farmers. Born in Morrinsville, John Luxton came from a family of dairy farmers.

Fonterra chairman Peter McBride has paid tribute to dairy industry leader John Luxton, who passed away earlier this month.

McBride says he had a huge amount of respect for Luxton, a former Agriculture Minister and founding chairman of DairyNZ.

McBride recalled first meeting Luxton during the Christchurch earthquake in 2016.

They were both in Christchurch attending a meeting on the Trans Pacific Partnership with US officials. After the meeting was disrupted by the earthquake, McBride and Luxton ended up walking across the devastated city.

"We were also part of several overseas trade delegations," McBride told Dairy News.

"He was a lovely guy."

Born in Morrinsville, Luxton came from a family of dairy farmers. The Luxton family have continuously supplied milk to small independent processor Tatua since 1921. Luxton served on the Tatua board for 24 years, stepping down in 2018.

He was also the co-chair of Waikato River Authority until 2020 and the founding chairman of DairyNZ. He stepped down from DairyNZ in November 2015 after more than a decade of service.

DairyNZ chairman Jim van der Poel says Luxton will be remembered for his longstanding, unfaltering contribution to the rural sector, particularly dairy.

"John has had a major role in the success of New Zealand's dairy industry. John has always demonstrated strong leadership and longstanding commitment to the sector," says van der Poel.

"John was instrumental in a number of significant policy and legislative changes in New Zealand, including the foundation policy work that led to the formation of Fonterra and the deregulation of producer boards.

"One of his major achievements was shaping the development of DairyNZ - the first industry-good body of its kind and the largest in Australasia."

He played a major role in heloing guide the dairy industry through a significant period of change, which would soon become New Zealand's number one export industry.

He was instrumental in supporting a successful, viable, competitive dairy industry in New Zealand, with the sector employing 42,240 people and contributing $13.2 billion to New Zealand's export revenue during his time as chair of DairyNZ.

Luxton was a National MP for 15 years and held various portfolios including agriculture. He entered Parliament in 1987 as MP for Matamata, replacing his father Jack Luxton.

Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard says Luxton's political contribution was significant across numerous ministerial roles, including his time as Minister of Agriculture.

"The dairy sector would not be the same if it weren't for John's work towards forming DairyNZ and then chairing the organisation between 2008 and 2015.

"He spearheaded the formation of several dairy companies, including Open Country Cheese and Kaimai Cheese company."

More like this

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 a major software project.

Musical chairs

OPINION: DairyNZ's director elections has seen scientist Jacqueline Rowarth re-elected for another three-year term.

$500k for chair

OPINION: Fonterra's chair will be paid nearly $500,000 if shareholders approve a proposal by the directors' remuneration committee.

Featured

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.

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 a major software project.

Organic sector backtracks on GE

Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ) says the Government’s new gene editing and genetic modification reforms could leave New Zealand as an outlier on the global stage.

$3b windfall?

Fonterra's proposed sale of its global consumer business could fetch over $3 billion but not all proceeds will end up in the pockets of farmer shareholders.

National

MilkHub sold

Milk vat manufacturer DTS is selling its dairy automation business to MilktechNZ.

'Quite a journey'

Former Synlait chief executive Grant Watson says the past two years have been quite the journey.

DairyNZ levy to increase?

Retiring chair Jim van der Poel has used his final AGM to announce the intention to increase the DairyNZ farmer…

Machinery & Products

Milk Sustainability Centre launched

The recently announced Milk Sustainability Centre – a collaboration between global giant John Deere and milking and feed specialists De…

Data connection made easier

New Holland and Case IH are introducing new advancements in their precision technology stack to make farming easier and more…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Virtual fence probe

OPINION: Should there be an inquiry into virtual fencing technology for cows?

Time to reset

OPINION: New Zealand needs a rethink about how banks allocate capital.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter