increase font size
MIE chairman John McCarthy
MEAT INDUSTRY Excellence (MIE) chairman John McCarthy is urging farmers to vote for Fiona Hancox in their upcoming election.
Hancox, a long time Silver Fern Farms shareholder and supplier has recently resigned from MIE's executive committee and is planning to put her name forward for nomination in this year's SFF elections.
McCarthy says as a founding member of MIE, Hancox has worked tirelessly to improve outcomes for farmers and co-op shareholders and would serve SFF well.
"SFF shareholders can be in no doubt that they will have, on their ballot paper, a true champion for industry reform and improved farmer returns, as well as a very successful sheep and beef farmer, well qualified to be an excellent director," says McCarthy.
According to McCarthy, despite delays to the SFF elections and AGM, MIE invited Hancox to take part in its upcoming farmer meetings. McCarthy says that farmer engagement and participation in their co-ops and the industry remained the decisive factor and it is important that interested parties had a chance to meet candidates that shared a vision for industry reform.
"We're at a tipping point. Farmers' high level of engagement last year in Co-op elections sent a message to our boards. As a result, we've seen some improvement, but we need to continue to refresh these boards to go on with the job," says McCarthy.
"Without a continued signal for change from farmers on their ballot forms, there's no guarantee this momentum will continue."
McCarthy says that Hancox's resignation from MIE came as a loss to the group, but he recognised her enormous contribution, and extensive work on building grassroots knowledge about industry issues.
As dairy farmers lock in plans for the upcoming mating season, a partnership between Fonterra and Silver Fern Farms has been formed with the aim of making it simpler to create additional value from calves not entering the replacement herd.
Applications for Silver Fern Farms Co-operative's next board-appointed farmer director are open.
Silver Fern Farms has tackled the ongoing war-induced shipping challenges to mideast markets by airlifting 90 tonnes of chilled New Zealand lamb and beef to the United Arab Emirates.
Silver Fern Farms has successfully produced and delivered 90 tonnes of premium chilled New Zealand lamb and beef to the United Arab Emirates via airfreight.
Silver Fern Farms has announced a major capital investment valued at over $100 million to redevelop freezing, cold storage, and automation facilities at its Finegand Site near Balclutha.
When Northland leather worker Vernon Suckling started making horse saddles 50 years ago, quad bikes and side-by-side vehicles were unheard of.
Alliance Group has confirmed that eligible farmer-shareholders who supply and continue to back the business will receive up to $20 million later this year, following the strategic investment partnership with Dawn Meats.
With a general election under five weeks away, Rural News is asking major political parties about their policies and positions on key issues facing the primary sector. We will run their responses to each question over the next four weeks. The ACT Party and the Greens didn't respond in time.
The red meat sector is in great heart.
Dr Scott Champion, Foundation for Arable Research chief executive, says that everyone in the supply chain had a role to play in driving the sector's long-term success.
Entries opened on Monday, 5 October 2026 for the 2027 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA), which organisers describe as the nation's biggest celebration of excellence in the dairy sector.
OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities…
OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in…
