Federated Farmers vows to hold banks accountable after complaint dismissed
Federated Farmers is vowing to keep the big banks accountable for their actions and to continue pushing for meaningful change in the rural lending sector.
Former Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills is making a bid for a seat on the Ravensdown board.
It’s his first major step into the public arena since he stepped down from his role with the Feds over a year ago.
Wills told Rural News he has deliberately stayed out of the public eye for the past year to give the new Feds board time to settle in without the distraction of a former president making headlines. But he says the time is now right to make a move.
“The opportunity has now come about and the Ravensdown seat is the one I have watched for some time,” Wills says.
“The incumbent, Patrick Willock, has been on the board 15 years and I thought he may have stood down. He’s been there a long time and if he were successful this year that would make it 19 years on the board, which in my view is really stretching it.
“I’ve been a long and loyal shareholder of Ravensdown, but have watched with some concern over a number of years its performance compared with Balance; at the moment Ballance is moving ahead.”
Wills says Ballance has gained 2000 more shareholders in the last two years – mainly at Ravensdown’s expense. He believes the rebates paid by Ballance are much better than Ravensdown’s. He says he would have gained $18,000 in rebates for the fertiliser he has applied on his farm from Ballance – as opposed to no rebate that year from Ravensdown.
“[Ravensdown] has performance issues. With my commercial environmental, science and water interests I feel I have a lot to offer.”
Wills serves in governance roles on the QEII Trust, the Willow Research Trust and Todd Foundation and – ironically – the Ballance Farm Environment Awards Trust.
Other Ravensdown seats in contest will be Northland, Southland and East Coast. The results will be announced at the co-op’s annual meeting in mid-September.
People affected by the recent two severe flood events in the Tasman district are weary and exhausted trying to deal with the devastation on their farms and orchards, according to the head of the Rural Support Trust (RST) in the region.
New Zealand milk production is off to a strong start, with the first month of the 2025/26 dairy season recording a whopping 17.8% jump in milk production, compared to the previous season.
With adverse weather set to rain down on the Top of the South, the Bay of Plenty and parts of Northland, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says farmers, foresters, and growers need to prepare for possible challenges.
Keep up with innovation and e-commerce in China or risk losing market share. That was the message delivered at the China Business Summit in Auckland this month.
Meat Industry Association (MIA) independent chair Nathan Guy says getting meat processors involved has been a shot in the arm for the sector's key marketing initiative into China, Taste Pure Nature.
Listed carpet manufacturer, Bremworth is undertaking a $6 million expansion at its Napier plant more than two years after the site was heavily damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.
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