Tuesday, 19 September 2023 07:55

Unanimous support for reducing board size

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Fonterra director Leonie Guiney says she supports moves to reduce the board size. Fonterra director Leonie Guiney says she supports moves to reduce the board size.

Fonterra chairman Peter McBride says the proposal to reduce the size of the co-operative's board has unanimous support from sitting directors.

McBride says the board will be reduced from 11 to 9 only if farmer shareholders give their green light at the co-operative's annual general meeting later this year.

"At the end of the day, farmers will decide, and we will respect their decision," he told Dairy News.

McBride doesn't expect too much opposition to the proposal.

A media report recently named appointed director Clinton Dines and farmer director Leonie Guiney as the directors who could be forced to leave next year to allow for a nine-member board.

But McBride says nothing will happen until farmer shareholders approve the proposal. Fonterra directors will discuss the proposal with farmers during a round of shareholder meetings planned for later this month.

Fonterra directors retire by rotation; next year McBride and Guiney, who both joined the board in 2018, come up for re-election. Guiney had previously served on the board between 2014 and 2017. Fonterra's charter states that a director should not serve more than nine years "unless the board considers that special circumstances exist to warrant an extended tenure".

Guiney, a South Canterbury farmer told Dairy News that she supports reducing the board size.

"It's future focused and will help ensure board dynamics are optimised to best serve our farmer owners," Guiney says.

She says the recent media story implied "dysfunction in the Fonterra board, which is simply not the case today".

"Since my re-election to the board of Fonterra, I have experienced a culture that encourages constructive dissent and where all directors' contributions are welcomed and respected.

"More importantly, the result is better outcomes for Fonterra."

Under the proposal to reduce the board size, farmer shareholders will remain in control of the board. The current balance between farmer elected and appointed directors would be maintained - with a composition of six farmer elected directors and three appointed directors.

Peter McBride Fonterra FBTW

Fonterra chairman Peter McBride.

"As is the case today, the chairman would still be selected from within the pool of farmer elected directors," says McBride.

McBride says as part of earlier governance and representation reviews, a commitment was made to review the board size and composition in 2024.

"Since the co-op's formation, it has been envisaged that the board size would be rationalised over time.

"With the capital structure review, asset divestment programme and long-term strategy work lately behind us, the board believes it is the right time to review its size and composition."

More like this

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

"Our" business?

OPINION: One particular bone the Hound has been gnawing on for years now is how the chattering classes want it both ways when it comes to the success of NZ's dairy industry.

Farmers' call

OPINION: Fonterra's $4.22 billion consumer business sale to Lactalis is ruffling a few feathers outside the dairy industry.

Wasted energy

OPINION: Finance Minister Nicola Willis could have saved her staff and MBIE time and effort over ‘buttergate’ recently by not playing politics with butter prices in the first place.

Featured

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Editorial: No joking matter

OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.

DairyNZ plantain trials cut nitrate leaching by 26%

DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.

National

Machinery & Products

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

No Joy

OPINION: Milking It understands a formal disciplinary process is being conducted by Victoria University of Wellington on what one of…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter