Alliance Group chief executive steps down
Alliance Group chief executive Willie Wiese is leaving the company after three years in the role.
Murray Taggart has been appointed the new chairman of meat processor, Alliance Group Ltd.
He replaces Owen Poole effective from October 1. Poole announced at shareholder meetings of the company in 2012 that it was his intention to retire this year. He is retiring as chairman and as a director on September 30.
Taggart was a farmer-elected director from 2002 to 2007 and was re-elected to the board in 2010. He is a member of the Group's audit and risk committee. Murray is a director of Ballance Agri Nutrients Ltd. He was a Nuffield Scholar in 1996 and a regional recipient of an FMG Rural Excellence Award in 2006.
Murray farms a 457 hectare sheep and cropping unit under irrigation in the Oxford district of North Canterbury.
Poole was the chief executive of Alliance Group from 1995 to 2005 and was appointed to the board as an independent director in 2008. He has been chairman since his appointment to the board.
The board of Alliance Group comprises nine directors, six elected by farmer shareholders and three independent directors appointed for the commercial skills they bring to the board.
Specialist agriculture lender Oxbury has entered the New Zealand market, offering livestock finance to farmers.
New research suggests Aotearoa New Zealand farmers are broadly matching phosphorus fertiliser use to the needs of their soils, helping maintain relatively stable nutrient levels across the country’s agricultural land.
Helensville farmers, Donald and Kirsten Watson of Moreland Pastoral, have been named the Auckland Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
Marc and Megan Lalich were named 2026 Share Farmers of the Year at last night's Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Industry Awards.
William John Poole, a third year Agribusiness student at Massey University, has been awarded the Dr Warren Parker and Pāmu Scholarship.
The most outstanding CNH dealers from across Australia and New Zealand for the past year have been revealed, with two New Zealand dealerships amongst the major winners.

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