B+LNZ Chair Highlights Future Focus at Annual Meeting
The Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) annual meeting held in Timaru today saw directors' fees raised and the appointment of KPMG as an auditor for the levy body.
OPINION: Your old mate is still somewhat gobsmacked by sheer stupidity and lack of understanding by Beef+Lamb NZ’s board in asking for a pay rise at this year’s annual meeting.
He also takes issue with chair Kate Acland’s rather spurious argument that BLNZ’s director fees are far lower that other comparable levy body board remuneration.
On first glance this may appear to be the case. However, even a little bit of research shows that BLNZ directors are not doing it so tough.
According to its 2023 annual report, DairyNZ’s chair receives around $95k annually and each farmer director around $50k.
Meanwhile, BLNZ’s chair gets $76k and each farmer director around $38k.
However, if you add in the director fees they also get as being directors of the NZ Meat Board – Acland’s stipend jumps to $107k a year and each farmer director to $55k.
New Zealand's diverse cheesemaking talent shone brightly last night as the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) crowned the champions of the 2026 New Zealand Cheese Awards.
Tracing has indicated that the source of the first velvetleaf find of the 2025-26 crop season, in Auckland, was likely maize purchased in the Waikato region.
Fish & Game New Zealand has announced its election priorities in its Manifesto 2026.
With the forage maize harvest started in Northland and the Waikato, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) is telling growers of later crops, or those further south, to start checking their maize crop maturity about three weeks prior to when they think they will start silage harvesting.
Irrigation NZ is warning that the government's Resource Management Act (RMA) reform risks falling short of its objectives unless water use for food production and water storage infrastructure are clearly recognised in the goals at the top of the new system.
More than five million trays, or 18,000 tonnes, of Zespri’s RubyRed Kiwifruit will soon be available for consumers across 16 markets this season.

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