OPINION:This old mutt suggests that the election of Kate Acland as chair of Beef+Lamb NZ – after the electoral demise of former chair Andrew Morrison – has seen many people miss the family link to producer board organisations.
Acland’s uncle (by marriage), John Acland, was the chair of B+LNZ’s predecessor Meat NZ back in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Meanwhile, John’s father, Sir Jack Acland, was chair of the Wool Board during the 1960s and early 1970s.
It seems the Acland family have had a long association with farmer levy funded bodies over the years, with Kate now the third generation of the family to take the reins.
The Hound reckons Kate will in time probably want to emulate the efforts of John Acland at Meat NZ who left the organisation on his own terms, rather than Sir Jack who resigned after a farmer-led coup against the organisation.
Sound familiar?