A Year of Delivery for Fonterra
Fonterra’s 2026 financial year was a year of delivery, with record volumes of milk collected, processed and shipped by the co-op.
MICHAEL SPAANS has been elected as the new director on the Fonterra Board of Directors.
Spaans, aged 50, lives in Hamilton and farms at Te Aroha. He was a Shareholders' Councillor from 2000 to 2008 and is currently a director of DairyNZ and several other dairy sector companies.
Shareholders voted to re-elect incumbent directors Malcolm Bailey and Ian Farrelly, says returning officer, Warwick Lampp, of electionz.com Ltd.
Shareholders Scott Montgomery and Gerard Wolvers were elected unopposed as members of the Directors' Remuneration Committee.
In the Shareholders' Council elections Rosss Wallis was elected in Ward 8 – Hamilton and Vaughn Brophy, Ward 21 – Coastal Taranaki.
Both are new Shareholders' Councillors.
In the 11 other Shareholders' Council wards where elections were due, nominees were elected unopposed. The councillors in those wards are:
Ward 3 - Northern Wairoa Penny Smart
Ward 6 - Hauraki Julie Pirie
Ward 9 - Morrinsville Malcolm Piggott
Ward 12 - Cambridge Kevin Monks
Ward 15 - South Waikato Ian Brown
Ward 18 - Otorohanga Duncan Coull
Ward 24 - Southern Taranaki David Werder
Ward 27 - Southern Manawatu Richard Syme
Ward 30 - Northern Central Canterbury Ange Ward
Ward 32 - Southern Canterbury John Gregan
Ward 33 - Otago Ad Bekkers and Ivan Lines
All successful candidates will take office at the close of the annual meeting on Wednesday, November 27, 2013.
Fonterra’s 2026 financial year was a year of delivery, with record volumes of milk collected, processed and shipped by the co-op.
OPINION: The Government's decision to reinstate agriculture and horticultural science as a standalone subject from Year 11 is the right one.
Dairy farmers, still holding onto their Fonterra shares despite switching milk supply elsewhere or exiting the industry, now face a stricter share sell-down requirement.
Hamilton-based agritech company Aimer Farming has completed a $3 million capital raise to support its next stage of growth, including a beef farming product due to launch in 2027.
When dairy manager Miriam Lauridsen learned the farm, she was joining held weekly health and safety meetings, she initially thought that was “a bit over the top”. Experiencing that culture changed her mind.
Nominations are open for the 2027 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year Award.

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