"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.
Fonterra will reduce its board from 11 to 9 at the completion of the 2024 annual general meeting.
This follows a vote at today’s AGM, where 88.5% of shareholders voted in support of the change.
Fonterra chair Peter McBride says that Fonterra can now move into the 2024 director elections with certainty.
“Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote. The transition to a board of nine, comprising of six farmer elected directors and three appointed directors, will be completed at the conclusion of the 2024 annual meeting, 12 months from now.”
A counter proposal by Kaikohe farmer Richard Dampney to reduce only elected directors on the board wasn’t passed. Each of his four remits garnered only between 15% and 18% of votes.
Dampney told Rural News that he isn’t surprised at the result.
He claims Fonterra’s board and Co-operative Council stonewalled him.
“They killed my remits before they could even get off the ground,” he says.
“My remits were quite similar to Fonterra’s remit, but they told shareholders to vote against my remits.”
A proposal to increase director fees was passed by 76% support and another to boost councillors’ allowance passed with 77% support.
Independent directors Bruce Hassall and Holly Kramer were re-elected for another term.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
A tiny organism from the arid mountains of mainland Greece is facilitating a new way of growing healthier animals on farms across New Zealand.