Thursday, 07 June 2012 08:07

TAF sceptics seek second opinion

Written by 

A GROUP of Fonterra shareholders has commissioned a report on hybrid cooperative models because they’re concerned they’re not getting the full story from their own board and management.

“We have been forced to do this because, to date, we’ve not been allowed access to the official due diligence that we as farmers have all paid for,” group spokeswoman Leonie Guiney told Rural News last week.

At their own expense Guiney and others commissioned Dutch co-operatives analyst Onno van Bekkum to look at the success or otherwise of cooperatives elsewhere in the world that have pursued models that involve non-farmer equity in cooperatives.

“Part of the problem is there’s nothing to compare TAF with. But it is imperative some expert analysis from a cooperative viewpoint is made available to farmers in the next few weeks as we consider what is a critical vote for the future of our cooperative.”

She’s concerned Fonterra’s dossier of information, due to be mailed to shareholders late last week, including voting papers, will simply be too much for some to digest, and they’ll take the “trust the board” approach and just tick the boxes.

“We must continue to test the concept against our cooperative principles and remember why we’ve not prioritised share value as our primary goal in the past. People must understand what they’re voting on.”

She also believes the vote threshold should be 75%. “No board that prioritised the co-op would consider anything less to be a mandate.”

She notes chief executive Theo Spierings recently said co-op unity is more important than TAF. “The only way to ensure that unity is for any resolution to require 75%.”

Guiney is dismayed by what she believes is selective circulation of media commentary on TAF by Fonterra. For example, a recent Radio Live interview featuring Rod Oram repeating Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden’s line that there’s a vocal minority who don’t understand the TAF model was emailed to the entire supply base by Fonterra regional managers, yet interviews with Simon Couper about his reasons for standing down from the Shareholders Council were not.

“Couper was our elected representative who has seen the detail behind this and he’s stood down on principle because he doesn’t believe 100% ownership and control can be maintained. Yet they think Rod Oram’s comments are more important.”

As for the “vocal minority” allegation, signatories to a petition calling for a second vote on TAF alone represented $630m worth of Fonterra shares – about 7% of supply, she points out.

“The ones who signed are only the tip of the iceberg. Vocal minority?  I don’t think so!”

Fonterra told Rural News it is not being selective in what it circulates. The Oram interview was sent by an area manager following farmer feedback expressing interest in independent reviews and comments on TAF. It is doing everything it can to ensure all the information is available to shareholders in time to be read, discussed and questioned, the co-op says.

The pack posted to farmers contains a 23-page report which is the same as the board received except for a few minor edits and exclusion of the appendices for commercially sensitive reasons. 

In addition to next week’s 51 meetings, in the run-up to the June 25 special meeting and vote, farmers may call directors, shareholders’ councillors, networkers, area managers and members of the TAF project team. Questions posted on Fencepost will all answered and legally verified.

More like this

Chinese strategy

OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.

LCAs tackle false narratives

The quest to measure, report and make sense of the energy that goes into food production has come a long way in the past 25 years.

$3b windfall?

Fonterra's proposed sale of its global consumer business could fetch over $3 billion but not all proceeds will end up in the pockets of farmer shareholders.

Featured

Better animal genetic gain system

A governance group has been formed, following extensive sector consultation, to implement the recommendations from the Industry Working Group's (IWG) final report and is said to be forming a 'road map' for improving New Zealand's animal genetic gain system.

SIDE 2025's new schedule, venue

Annual farmer gathering, the South Island Dairy Event (SIDE), is set to make history as it heads to Timaru for the first time.

Taranaki piggery goes solar

Installing 400 solar panels at their Taranaki piggery and cropping operation will have significant environmental, financial and animal welfare benefits for the Stanley family.

Editorial: Keep FTAs coming

OPINION: The dairy industry will  be a major beneficiary of a new free trade deal between NZ and the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).

National

Food charity to hold online auction

Meat the Need, New Zealand’s dedicated charity delivering locally sourced protein meals to food-insecure communities, is launching an online National…

Machinery & Products

An ideal solution for larger farms

Designed specifically for large farms that want to drill with maximum flexibility, efficiency and power, the new Lemken Solitair ST…

Landpower increases its offering

Landpower and the Claas Harvest Centre network will launch the Claas Scorpion and Torion material handling solutions to the market…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Leaky waka

OPINION: Was the ASB Economic Weekly throwing shade on Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr when reporting on his speech in…

Know-it-alls

OPINION: A reader recently had a shot at the various armchair critics that she judged to be more than a…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter