Pāmu Appoints Dave Nuku as Associate Director
State farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) has announced Dave Nuku is its new Associate Director, joining the board as an observer from 1 March 2026.
State farmer Pamu has appointed Ash-Leigh Campbell as an associate director and observer on its board.
Campbell joined in time for Pamu’s recent monthly board and sub-committee meetings in Palmerston North.
She has a strong agricultural and business background with extensive experience in the dairy sector. This includes her introduction to the sector as a relief milker whilst at high school, through to roles with Ngāi Tahu Farming as a technical farm manager, as well as being a variable order share milking partnership with 860 cows. She has also held roles with New Zealand Young Farmers as the Chairperson and was a board observer with UniMed. Ash-Leigh currently works for agri-tech company Halter in the customer success team.
In 2020 Campbell won the Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award.
Pamu acting board chair Nigel Atherfold says that growing a diverse range of directors for the future is a great way to ensure continuity and development opportunities for the benefit of both individuals and the wider primary sector.
“The associate director role provides those with potential and ambition, the opportunity to participate at a governance level. It also provides boards with exposure to new talent, ideas, and experiences.
“While Pamu has embraced digital technology to support its operations, sector-wide challenges remain in reducing the need for farmers to enter the same farm data multiple times and securing broad-based farmer uptake. Ash-Leigh brings a firsthand understanding of how farmers and growers can benefit hugely from digital technologies and data availability for better decision-making on-farm,” Atherfold says.
Campbell says she looks forward to working through how her experiences can be of benefit to the Pamu team and make a difference for the agricultural sector in New Zealand.
In February Pamu farewelled Libby Tosswill who had been in the associate director role for the past 12 months.
“It’s been an incredibly valuable experience, with lots of change and challenges in the sector. I’ve enjoyed observing and participating in the Board’s meetings and visiting farms across the motu, with the highlight being the diversity and scale of the business,” says Tosswill.
Matt McRae, a farmer from Mokoreta in Southland who runs a sheep, beef and dairy support business alongside a sheep stud, has been elected to the Beef +Lamb NZ Board as a farmer director.
Ravensdown's next evolution in smart farming technology, HawkEye Pro, was awarded the Technology Section Award at the Southern Field Days Farm Innovation Awards in February 2026.
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.
Philip and Lyneyre Hooper of the Hoopman Family Trust have tonight been named the Taranaki Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
We are not a bunch of sky cowboys. That was one of the key messages from the chairperson of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) Kent Weir, speaking at an education day at Feilding aerodrome for 25 policymakers and regulators from central and local government and other rural professionals.
New Zealand's dairy and beef industries say they welcome the announcement that the Government will invest $10.49 million in the Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme.

OPINION: Election years are usually regarded as the silly season, but a mate of the Hound reckons 2026 is shaping…
OPINION: If farmers poured just a few litres of some pollutant into a stream, the Green Party and the wider…