Fonterra’s exit from Australia ‘a major event’
Fonterra’s impending exit from the Australian dairy industry is a major event but the story doesn’t change too much for farmers.
Nominations for the Fonterra Board of Directors’ election open today with an election to be held for two farmer-elected directors.
This year, Andy Macfarlane and Donna Smit retire by rotation.
Macfarlane has confirmed he will stand for re-election and Smit announced last month she would be retiring from the Board.
The Independent Assessment Process will be run first with a nomination period of 5-19 August 2022.
The Independently Assessed candidates will be assessed by an Independent Selection Panel made up of Tony Carter (chair of My Food Bag, TR Group and Datacom Group), Joan Withers (chair of The Warehouse Group) and Rob Campbell (Chair of Health NZ, Environment Protection Authority and NZ Rural Land).
The selection panel’s role is to shortlist and recommend the best candidates to shareholders.
The returning officer will announce the Independent Assessment Process candidates on 19 September 2022.
The Non-Assessment Process, where farmers can put themselves forward as a candidate for the Board outside the Independent Assessment Process, will follow with the nomination period running from 19 - 29 September 2022.
The returning officer will confirm all directors’ election candidates on Friday, 30 September 2022.
The director election will be held using the first past the post system via postal and online voting by Fonterra shareholders.
Fonterra’s impending exit from the Australian dairy industry is a major event but the story doesn’t change too much for farmers.
Expect greater collaboration between Massey University’s school of Agriculture and Environment and Ireland’s leading agriculture university, the University College of Dublin (UCD), in the future.
A partnership between Torere Macadamias Ltd and the Riddet Institute aims to unlock value from macadamia nuts while growing the next generation of Māori agribusiness researchers.
A new partnership between Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) and NZAgbiz aims to make evidence-based calf rearing practices accessible to all farm teams.
Despite some trying circumstances recently, the cherry season looks set to emerge on top of things.
Changed logos on shirts otherwise it will be business as usual when Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses are expected to change hands next month.

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