Ravensdown Elects Montgomery, Acland to Board
Ravensdown shareholders have elected Jane Montgomery and Kate Acland to the Ravensdown Board for three-year terms, following a closely contested director election.
“Ravensdown is one of our strongest South Island based cooperatives in agriculture, so we’re thrilled about that partnership,” Carter says.
The farmer-owned fertiliser co-operative has signed a two-year deal for the show to be known as the Ravensdown Canterbury A&P Show. It will run this year from November 11 to 13.
The country’s largest A&P show has had a rocky few years, struggling through Mycoplasma bovis restrictions, a Covid cancellation, and the upheavals of 2024 when the then board proposed to cancel the public show because of financial pressures. That was reversed by a change in board membership including the appointment of Carter as chair, and bringing in events company Event Hire to the run the public show.
However, Event Hire’s recipe included moving the show’s traditional dates within the Canterbury Show Week, which proved problematic.
“We tried the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, we’ve returned now very much to the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,” says Carter.
“That is suiting our rural exhibitors and it’s setting our members as well. They didn’t like the Saturday show.”
Carter says the Show was also on a more secure financial footing since the 2024 deal in which CAPA sold back to the Christchurch City Council the lease on five hectares of land near the Agricultural Park. $1 million of the sale price repaid a loan to the council and $4 million went into a capital protected charitable investment trust now providing ongoing income.
“We’ve now restored financial stability to the organisation which wasn’t there when we became involved,” he says.
Ravensdown chief executive Garry Diack said the co-op was proud to support the “farmer-first” direction of the event.
“For generations, the Canterbury A&P Show has celebrated the best of New Zealand farming. As the new naming rights partner, Ravensdown is proud to help ensure that tradition continues for future generations.
“As a co-operative with deep roots in Canterbury, it feels like a natural fit for us to support an event that showcases the region’s agricultural sector and the people behind it. The Show is where farmers, growers, rural businesses and the wider community come together to share ideas, celebrate success and look to the future.
“The Show has always been an important way for us to connect with our shareholders. Showing up matters, and this partnership is another way we can back the people and events that help keep rural Canterbury strong,” said Diack.
