Wednesday, 22 November 2023 08:55

Not just saving money - Feds

Written by  Glenys Christian
Federated Farmers chief executive Terry Copeland. Federated Farmers chief executive Terry Copeland.

Federated Farmers policy team staff reductions haven't just been about saving money or reducing headcount, chief executive Terry Copeland claims.

"We've also made some significant changes to the structure of our organisation to make sure we can deliver the best possible outcomes for our members with the resources we have."

Copeland told Rural News that as a result of the restructuring, its policy team would be reduced by 6.5 full-time employees (FTE) - with 3.5 being regional policy staff and three national policy staff. As four positions were already vacant this meant that only 2.5 FTE would actually be made redundant.

"We are working through that process now with staff," he says. "Federated Farmers still have 23 people working in policy across the country. This is a large and well-resourced team."

Asked about what changes were planned to distribute the present workload amongst a smaller number of employees, Copeland says Feds was working with its provincial presidents, board, and staff to prioritise work in the policy team.

"We will still be working on all the big things farmers expect us to be, but the reality is that we can't do everything," he says.

"We're also working with other groups like DairyNZ and Beef+Lamb NZ to see where we can get some efficiencies. We don't expect most members to notice much of a difference in the service they receive from Federated Farmers."

More like this

Bye bye Paris?

OPINION: At its recent annual general meeting, Federated Farmers’ Auckland province called for New Zealand to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Featured

Editorial: KiwiSaver to the rescue?

OPINION: Farmers are rightly urging the Government to relax the rules around KiwiSaver and allow young farmers to use their savings towards purchasing either a house, cows or a farm.

National

Machinery & Products

New Holland combines crack 50 years

New Holland is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the introduction its Twin Rotor threshing and separation technology, which has evolved…

Iconic TPW Woolpress turns 50!

The company behind the iconic TPW Woolpress, which fundamentally changed the way wool is baled in Australia and New Zealand,…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Double standards

OPINION: Imagine if the Hound had called the Minister of Finance the 'c-word' and accused her of "girl math".

Debt monster

OPINION: It's good news that Finance Minister Nicola Willis has slashed $1.1 billion from new spending, citing "a seismic global…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter