Farmlands Co-operative Appoints Rachel Aldikacti as Chief Sales Officer
Farmlands Co-operative has announced Rachel Aldikacti will be its new chief sales officer.
Farmlands has announced that starting from February, its card fee will rise to $65 plus GST per card.
A Farmlands shareholder is questioning the rural trader’s decision to more than double its annual card fee.
The shareholder, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Rural News that shareholders shouldn’t have to pay “a high amount of money just to get a card”
In an email to shareholders this week, Farmlands announced that starting from February, its card fee will rise to $65 plus GST per card. The current card fee is $28.75 plus GST.
Farmlands pointed out to shareholders that it is the first increase in five years.
“We have held off a fee increase for as long as we could.”
But one shareholder isn’t convinced.
“As we had to pay to belong to Farmlands Society, we don’t think we should have to pay a high amount of money just to get a card,” the shareholder says.
“When we rang Farmlands, we were told we had to have a card to have an account.”
In a statement to Rural News, Farmlands general manager of marketing Daniel Herd noted that Farmlands has charged an annual fee for a long-time and reiterated that this is the first increase to the fee in five years.
“We have held off any increase for as long as we could, while costs of managing and administering our services have gone up.
“The majority of our shareholders save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars each year in rebates and discounts in our stores and from our Card Partners.
“The fee increase can be offset by the savings made on less than a tank of diesel per month or one visit to Card Partners such as Noel Leeming or Mitre 10.
“We’re committed to helping Farmlands Card users get even more value from their card.”
Herd says they’ve just released a new version of our Farmlands Card app – where it’s easy to find the nearest card partner and see transaction and account information.
“We’re also working to provide more shopping options – with the likes of Briscoes, Noel Leeming, and VetPost now accepting Farmlands Card online.”
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.

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