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Adding interest to this year’s vote are bids by former director Leonie Guiney.
OPINION: Fonterra's upcoming director elections will be an interesting contest with a potential shake-up on the cards, which its board surely needs.
Currently, the dairy co-op is copping robust criticism of its performance and future strategy.
Its performance has been under fire from all quarters including from Government ministers.
The farmer-owned cooperative has up to 11 directors. Seven must be shareholders with dairy farming interests, while four are independent and appointed by the board. Former chairman John Wilson and long-servicing director Nicola Shadbolt are not standing again, so two of the three seats up for contention this year are vacant.
Five candidates have put up their hands for the three vacancies: the incumbent director Ashley Waugh, Zespri chair Peter McBride and Ministry for Māori Development chief executive and Māori Television chairman Jamie Tuuta, who all came through Fonterra’s ‘independent’ nomination system.
Adding interest to this year’s vote are bids by former director Leonie Guiney – who was dumped from the board last when she failed to make it through this same nomination process – and multi property-owning Canterbury dairy farmer John Nicholls. Both have come to the contest via the ‘self-nominating’ process.
The two chose not to take part in Fonterra’s ‘independent nomination process’ in which candidates are nominated by the board after being recommended by an independent selection panel. Instead they relied on getting the signatures of 35 farmer shareholders to support their nominations.
Guiney has recently settled a legal wrangle with the Fonterra board after suing it for defamation, when it took court action earlier this year gagging her from speaking about co-op business.
All the candidates standing need to restore farmer and public confidence in Fonterra. A good start would be an end to the ridiculous board-controlled ‘independent’ nomination process. While few would dispute the quality of all the candidates who have come through this time, the perception of this process is that the board only allows the candidates it wants to run for election.
Meantime, the ‘self-nomination’ process has also produced two good candidates, showing that would-be directors of quality can be found without the need for Fonterra to have to artificially ‘manufacture’ them. Full and proper democracy should be the hallmark and standard of any farmer co-operative.
OPINION: There is zero chance that someone who joined Fonterra as a lobbyist, then served as a general manager of Fonterra's nutrient management programme, and sat on the board of Export NZ, a division of lobbyist group Business New Zealand, doesn't understand that local butter (and milk and cheese) prices are set by the international commodity price.
Kiwis love their butter, and that's great because New Zealand produces some of the best butter in the world. But when the price of butter goes up, it's tough for some, particularly when many other grocery staples have also gone up and the heat goes on co-operative Fonterra, the country's main butter maker. Here the co-op explains why butter prices are so high right now.
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The world's largest dairy company may be in pole position to acquire Fonterra's Australian assets.
Over 85% of Fonterra farmer suppliers will be eligible for customer funding up to $1,500 for solutions designed to drive on-farm efficiency gains and reduce emissions intensity.
August 6 marks Farm Worker Appreciation Day, a moment to recognise the dedication and hard mahi of dairy farm workers across Aotearoa - and DairyNZ is taking the opportunity to celebrate the skilled teams working on its two research farms.
OPINION: The Government has been seeking industry feedback on its proposed amendments to a range of Resource Management Act (RMA) national direction instruments.
A Taupo company says it's the first to bring CO₂-powered water heating technology to New Zealand dairy sheds, helping farmers cut energy costs by up to 85%.
Waikato is home to a diverse range of lakes, and experts say they urgently need better management and restoration.
Federated Farmers is renewing its call for Greenpeace to be stripped of its charitable status immediately, following the activist group's latest publicity stunt.
Kiwis love their butter, and that's great because New Zealand produces some of the best butter in the world. But when the price of butter goes up, it's tough for some, particularly when many other grocery staples have also gone up and the heat goes on co-operative Fonterra, the country's main butter maker. Here the co-op explains why butter prices are so high right now.
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