Mark Hooper Joins NZPork Board as Independent Director
Rural leader Mark Hooper has been appointed as an independent director to the NZPork board, bringing extensive farming, governance and advocacy experience to the role.
New Zealand Pork chief executive Sam McIvor is stepping down after nearly six years in the role.
McIvor won't be totally lost to the pork industry. He is going to head up Wellington meat family Prestons. McIvor leaves NZPork in mid-March and a recruitment process for his replacement is underway.
NZP board chairman Ian Carter says McIvor has had "an action packed tenure during which we've endured a global economic crisis and domestically the industry has had some big issues to work through".
"Championing the industry's strong environmental standing, progressing the animal welfare changes and maintaining the industry's disease-free status have been significant pieces of work and Sam has shown strong leadership and the ability to work effectively with farmers through to politicians in this process".
McIvor is also credited for helping improve product quality and drive consumer demand for locally produced product.
"There is no doubt that consumers are much more aware now of the 700,000kgs of imported pork coming into the country each week and they're looking for NZ grown labelled products," says Carter.
New Zealand's citrus growers were challenged to build their future on the value embedded in their fruit rather than the volume they produce, at Citrus New Zealand's annual gathering in Gisborne on 17 September.
Leading John Deere technicians and apprentices from New Zealand and Australians were recognised at the recent sixth annual JD Technician of the Year Awards, held in Brisbane.
In Dacre, near Invercargill in New Zealand’s South Island, Bruce Dinnington is running a dairy operation unlike any other.
A free online platform aggregating governance vacancies across rural and regional New Zealand has been launched.
Environment Minister Nicola Grigg has announced details of a new rural plastics recycling scheme.
Agricultural drone operators say that a government decision to allow lower-risk drone work without certification won’t lower standards but drive innovation and efficiency.

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