Voting has opened for two vacant directorship positions on DairyNZ’s board.

This year, three candidates – Jacqueline Rowarth, Tirau; Richard McIntyre, Levin; and  Kylie Leonard, Taupō – are vying for the two vacant positions.  

Farmers have until noon on Thursday, October 17, to cast their votes.

Voter packs have been sent out since September 19. Dairy farmers can vote online or by post. 

This year, DairyNZ is hosting a Meet the Candidates webinar, on Friday, September 20, at 7pm, providing an opportunity to ask questions of the potential directors.

DairyNZ’s board consists of five farmer-elected directors and three board-appointed directors. This year, Jim van der Poel is retiring, and Jacqueline Rowarth is retiring by rotation and is re-standing.

Outside of the candidate vote, there are four resolutions for farmers to ratify in their vote pack, including the appointment of independent director David Hunt and changes to the rules of DairyNZ to reflect new regulatory changes and capture recent feedback from farmers.

Further details on the resolutions and proposed changes are available in the Notice of Meeting booklet in farmer voting packs and online.  

In a first for AngusPRO New Zealand, member Ben Todhunter from Cleardale Angus in the Rakaia Gorge has been selected as an optional appointed director of Angus Australia.

Todhunter brings extensive experience and skills to the position, in particular, NZ beef industry knowledge. 

Having representation at board level is encouraging on many levels, AngusPRO chair Tim Brittain said.

 Todhunter runs the Cleardale Angus herd alongside Cleardale Merino and Cleardale SX Fine Wool sheep studs. 

A graduate from Lincoln University, he also holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business, University College Dublin, has been a Nuffield Scholar and a Kellogg Rural Leadership Scholar. 

He is a director and deputy chair of the NZ Merino Company Limited. 

Angus Australia chief executive Scott Wright acknowledged that Todhunter has been a key NZ-based member.

“He shines out as being a positive contributor to the Angus community and in our member interactions in NZ. We look forward to his involvement at a board level,” Wright said. 

The Environmental Protection Authority board has had a refresh with four new appointments announced by Environment Minister Penny Simmonds.

The new board members are Barry O’Neil, Jennifer Scoular, Alison Stewart and Nancy Tuaine, who have been appointed for a three-year term ending in August 2027.

“They bring a wealth of experience in the horticultural and agricultural science fields, as well as sound governance experience,” Simmonds said.

Paul Connell, who has served as a board member since August 2021, has been reappointed as both a board member and as acting interim chair, following chair Colin Dawson’s term ending.

Simmonds will make one further appointment later this month.

The EPA is New Zealand’s national environmental regulator, playing a vital role across the entire economy.

“It’s critical to have timely decision making for the agriculture and horticulture sector, alongside ensuring positive environmental outcomes. EPA decisions impact the daily lives of all New Zealanders,”  Simmonds said.

“I would like to thank the outgoing board members, including past chairman, Colin Dawson, and board members, Tīpene Wilson, Andrea Byrom and Heather Simpson. I would especially like to acknowledge the various contributions Tīpene Wilson has made over the past 20 years.”

New research says that having women at the board table helps implement effective governance systems, enhances collaboration, inspires organisational dedication and improves fairness in the workplace.

According to a study report by a group of Lincoln University academics, female leaders help increase productivity and are vital for instilling confidence and protecting shareholder interests. 

Bringing greater diversity to corporate boardrooms has been a focus in parts of the world with regulatory reforms on promoting female directorships highlighting new evidence coming out the United Kingdom that female directors positively impact business investment decisions.

The report authored by three Lincoln University academics demonstrates to regulators, policymakers and stakeholders that appointing women to boards helps implement effective governance systems. 

The report, by Dr Sanaullah Farooq, Dr Muhammad Nadeem and Professor Christoper Gan from Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University, examines the link between boardroom gender diversity and investment inefficiency.

Taking a sample of UK businesses from 2005 to 2018, researchers examined the impact of female directors on the efficiency of capital investments.

“Important discussions take place on boards; diversity brings a range of perspectives and talent that synergises the board, leading to more well-rounded decisions,” Farooq said.

“There needs to be a raised awareness of giving women a fair shot at landing a seat on a board of directors.

“From our findings and others published, female directors encourage better business performance and governance, are less tolerant of poor managerial performance, make better investment decisions and are more transparent in disclosing information. 

“Research suggests that women in management minimise corporate risks and improve corporate social responsibility.”

Following regulatory reforms in the UK to increase female representation on corporate boards, the study found that gender-diverse boards strengthen the financial monitoring of a business, improving decision-making, resulting in less under and over-investment.

Female directors improve the efficiency of capital investments through three channels, board dynamics, stewardship effect and information environment. 

The dynamics of a board improve with female directors’ active participation in activities such as meetings and governance sub-committees where they seek discussion and clarity on the viability and rationality of investments.

“Forging productive relationships within a business sees female directors help align a chief executive officer’s interest with a business and by doing so, helps mitigate inefficient investment decisions.” 

Female directors help create information-rich environments that raise confidence with stakeholders on the availability of profitable investments, resulting in the supply of capital being eased, Farooq said.

The study also found that corporate boards with three or more female directors have a more significant and positive influence on investment decisions because the women have a greater voice at the board table.

“By achieving critical mass, female directors can change boardroom dynamics and encourage policymaking. 

“So, rather than tick-box compliance, aim to have three or more female directors for a more pronounced effect on financial decision-making.”  

The study suggests promoting greater gender representation can be adopted across other countries, including New Zealand, and beyond corporate entities.

Similar findings are expected in non-listed organisations. 

“Decades of studies show women leaders help increase productivity, enhance collaboration and inspire organisational dedication and improve fairness in the workplace. 

“This is why legislation encouraging female representation at board level should be encouraged.” 

Federated Farmers have once again called for Otago Regional Council (ORC) to delay notifying its new freshwater rules and to lay the full costs bare.

“It’s been well over a month since we first called for transparency about the potential impacts and costs of these rules,” Federated Farmers Otago president Luke Kane says.

“Unfortunately, the council has been about as transparent as a brick wall. Our requests have been met with nothing but contempt.

“Despite repeated questioning and intense media scrutiny, our community is still none the wiser about what these rules might cost us.”

Federated Farmers say ORC has failed to give straight answers about how it plans to apply the principle of Te Mana o te Wai under new water regulations.

“The council has been totally dismissive of Federated Farmers’ concerns,” Kane says.

“First they said we were wrong and we didn’t understand, then they said it’s complicated and we were only partially correct, and now they’ve gone totally quiet.

“I think that’s because they know Federated Farmers have hit the nail on the head and that these expensive new rules are going to go down very poorly with local ratepayers.”

Federated Farmers aren’t the only ones concerned, with Environment Minister Penny Simmonds writing to ORC chair Gretchen Robertson on 8 August to raise concerns and request further information. 

“It’s bad enough the Minister has had to write to the council demanding more detail on the costs of Te Mana o Te Wai,” Kane says.

“But to turn around and say, ‘sorry Minister, we’ve got other stuff to work on, and you didn’t really provide a deadline’, is laughable.

“You’d have thought it would be a fairly simply exercise. It’s simply not good enough that the information hasn’t been provided.  

“The council clearly either has no idea what the full cost to the community will be, or the costs are so astronomically high they don’t want to release them.  

“I’m not sure what would be worse: trying to notify a plan without understanding the true costs, or understanding those costs and pushing ahead anyway.”   

Kane says Federated Farmers want ORC to delay notifying the new freshwater rules and release the full plan, including costs, for further consultation.

Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Federated Farmers news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.

In Focus Podcast |  Pests a problem on the farm

A survey by Federated Farmers reveals its members are spending big money on pest control but are barely making any headway. And, as its pest control spokesperson, tells Bryan having the Department of Conservation as a neighbour only makes the fight harder.

A long-awaited Parliamentary probe into rural lending hasn’t even started and at least one bank is dragging its feet about appearing for questioning.

Getting to the bottom of why farmers pay more in interest than homeowners is one of the top priorities for the Finance and Expenditure and Primary Production select committees, which hope to report findings from their banking inquiry back to Parliament before the end of the year.

The chair of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee, National MP Stuart Smith, said he could compel bank executives to appear – but he doesn’t expect to have to use those powers.

“I did point that out to a banking representative when they suggested it will be quite difficult to align diaries and so on.

“I told them their social licence would be lost if they didn’t appear or it didn’t appear that they wanted to appear.

“But I am sure they will turn up and I am sure they will cooperate.”

The inquiry’s terms of reference, released in August, include questions about the extent to which rules set by the Reserve Bank are to blame for high rural borrowing costs.

The banks say the rules requiring them to hold additional capital against rural loans are a large contributor to the higher lending costs for farmers.

But Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says the criticism is unfair and the banks are using the rules as a fig-leaf for charging higher interest margins on rural loans than is justified.

Smith said he is keeping an open mind about who is right but does expect Orr to appear before the committee members to explain himself further.

“Either the Reserve Bank is requiring the banks to hold too much capital unreasonably and they may or may not be.

“Or the banks themselves are deciding to hold more capital than they need or they have got a margin on their lending which is greater than it needs to be.

“We do not know the answer to that but that is what we seek to find out.”

Comparing interest margins here with comparable rural loans overseas is one way the committee can assess whether the banks are gouging their farmer clients, Smith said.

“The big five rural lenders all operated overseas and we will ask them what is happening overseas and I would expect them to tell us.”

Asked what confidence the public could have in committee members to properly scrutinise those answers, Smith said the committee will appoint specialist advisers to assist it. Officials from the government’s key economic departments will also be on hand.

“We will fact-check them. I would expect them to be fulsome with their answers and to be honest – I am not going to question that for a moment – but we will do what we can to validate those answers.

“We need to get the answers to those questions because if we do not have a competitive banking sector that is making enough money to be a viable, thriving business but not so much that they are strangling the sector or taking unreasonable profits then we will not have a successful economy.”

Former Nuffield scholar Kate Scott has been appointed chief executive officer of Horticulture New Zealand.

 Scott has been working in agribusiness for 20 years and has significant experience in resource management, environmental policy and planning and stakeholder engagement.

 She is currently executive director of environmental consultancy Landpro, chairs the New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust and is deputy chair of Thriving Southland. 

Scott was a Nuffield scholar in 2018 and was a recipient of the Rabobank Australasian Emerging Leader award last year.

 Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts (Geography & Political Science) degree from Victoria University. She completed the Leading Professional Service Firms programme at Harvard Business School and the Institute of Directors Governance Development Programme.

Barry O’Neil, chair of HortNZ, said Scott is a strong and effective leader, a collaborative relationship builder and a practical problem solver.

“The calibre of candidates for the CEO role was exceptional. Kate stood out for her energy and ability to not only deliver on our strategy and priorities, but also look for opportunities for wider collaboration.

“She is also experienced in leading organisations and people, fostering a strong sense of team and enabling those she works with to succeed.

“I am confident Kate will navigate the sector’s complexities and be able to unpick and understand the key issues while remaining focused on delivering results that will make a difference for growers and the wider horticulture industry.”

O’Neil paid tribute to departing chief executive Nadine Tunley.

“Nadine has been amazing in the CEO role. She has always been connected, always looking for the best horticulture and organisational outcomes, and encouraging us to find a better way of working.

“She led us through some really tough times, including the pandemic, the labour crisis as a result of the closed borders and Cyclone Gabrielle. We wish her all the best for the next stage of her career.”

Scott will attend the HortNZ conference in Mount Maunganui this week and be formally introduced at a networking event on August 28.

Michelle Sands, HortNZ general manager strategy and policy, will stand in as interim chief executive until Scott starts on October 17.

Ideas That Grow Podcast | Developing leaders in the food and fibre sector

In this episode, Lisa Rogers, Rural Leaders CEO, talks to host Bryan Gibson about the recently released report ‘A Path to Realising Leadership Potential in Aotearoa NZ’s Food and Fibre Sector’, along with its leadership development framework, and the leadership programmes serving as key tools for building more and ever greater leaders.

Three years of double-digit average rate increases are being attributed by regional councils to cost increases, inflation and extra obligations required by central government.

They also warn that despite councils increasing by 1000 their combined personnel head counts in the past five years, central government and community expectations mean those head counts will increase further.

The Taranaki Regional Council said its largest increase in expenditure has been in resource management, biosecurity and biodiversity, which was driven by government regulation and policy and resulted in an extra 15 staff being employed.

The council consulted with ratepayers to determine priority areas of work, it said.

Its long-term plan shows rate increases returning to single figures in 2027-28 and to just over 2% from 2028-29.

Northland Council said elected members and staff found more than $1 million in savings for this year in the area of natural environment.

Ratepayers rejected proposed cuts to council contributions to emergency services and regional sporting facilities, which would have reduced the rate rise by 4.98%.

The inclusion of these pushed this year’s increase to 15.94%.

The council has not reduced staff numbers, saying they are needed to deliver the work demands of central government and the Northland community.

Savings by the Greater Wellington council reduced its 37.3% draft rate rise to 20.55%.

Those savings come from delays to capital projects, leaving positions vacant, cutting costs and extending the length of borrowing terms.

Rate rises are expected to return to single figures in 2028 and to reach 2% or below from 2032.

Bay of Plenty has reduced operating costs by between $4.5m and $5m through efficiency initiatives and sharing services.

According to it council, inflation and increased government requirements, especially in the environmental and freshwater areas, increased its operating budget from $133m in 2018-19 to $200m in 2024-25.

The Hawke’s Bay council found savings in operational and non-regulatory areas by deferring some projects, and it said it is addressing staffing levels by reviewing vacancies.

Its work programme in the current year relates largely to post-Cyclone Gabrielle, transport and flood protection and control.

The Waikato Regional Council has determined current staffing levels are appropriate but has restricted the replacement of some roles.

Higher expenditure has been driven by increased costs in flood protection, catchment management and public transport, including rail service to Auckland.

It estimates that inflation, outside its control, last year equated to 5.7%.

The council cancelled a sustainable homes scheme to reduce costs.

Horizons Regional Council found savings that reduced the rate burden from 12.9% to 11.7% and it has limited new staff hires to what is needed to meet regulatory and compliance standards.

It expects higher future expenditure on public transport, as demand grows, and on meeting regulatory standards.

The 2025-26 rate rise is expected to be 12% and 9% the following year.

Environment Canterbury has adopted a $337m work programme that resulted in a 17.9% rate increase, smaller than the 24.2% initially proposed due to efficiencies.

Public submissions encouraged increased spending on river resilience, flood management and pest and weed control.

The West Coast council has a significant workload in areas such as flood protection for Westport, but it is aware of the compounding risk of underinvesting in capital works.

After this year 27% rate increase, it is forecasting a 12% rise next year.

The council is also bringing more roles in-house instead of employing contractors.

The Otago Regional Council softened its rates burden by increasing its use of debt and reserves, extending debt repayment, and is projecting an increase in dividend payments from Port Otago, of which it is a sole shareholder.

Its extra workload has been in public transport, which increase $17m between 2018-19 and 2024-25, science and monitoring ($10m increase), regulatory ($7.4m), environmental implementation ($7m), and flood, drainage and river management ($6m).

Environment Southland has capped staff numbers after an effectiveness and efficiency review.

Using reserves and changing the timing of work has enabled a softening in the rate increase.

Between 2018-21, freshwater changes generated the council’s greatest increase in workload while from 2021 to 2024 it was climate change resilience, specifically improving flood defences.

A council statement noted there had been no capital investment in flood protection work for 30 years and the council expected that to continue into the future.

Tracy Brown is determined to ensure the dairy industry is fit to thrive in the 21st century, when she takes on the role of DairyNZ chair in October.

For Brown, that comes down to taking others on the journey through collaboration, inclusion, transparency and leading by example.

It’s a far cry from when she started her leadership journey in 2010. At the time, she was a full-time mother to four young children and working with her husband Wynn on their 310-hectare, 700-cow farm Tiroroa near Matamata.

That year, they entered and won the Farm Environment Awards for Waikato, and Brown was asked to be regional coordinator for the awards. The part-time role also allowed her to step back into the workforce.

“Dairy was seen in a really poor light at that time because that was around the time of dirty dairying. I had all of these little kids and I thought I had to do something about the public perception of dairy.

“I was getting angrier and annoyed and I thought that there’s got to be something that can be done.”

She decided on a two-prong approach of telling good farming stories while getting farmers who needed to change their on-farm practices.

“I literally woke up one morning and thought, ‘What can I do to help those two things?’”

Brown also started to look for other roles and she got her first experience with governance when she chaired the Matamata Kids Toy Library.

“I was president of that. What’s interesting about those community governance roles is that it gave me a really good set of transferable skills to go on and do other things later on.”

She then went on the Matamata Intermediate School board for six years and chaired that for three. The school’s enrolment encompassed a whole range of people with different socioeconomic backgrounds, and the experience further enhanced her governance skills, particularly around setting objectives, creating change and measuring outcomes.

“I’ve had a lot of roles where there have been challenges where I have had to lead change processes and I’ve learnt transferrable skills, from the school board to some of the environmental roles later on.”

After encouragement from the Dairy Women’s Network (DWN), in 2017 Brown completed an AWDT Escalator programme, which helped grow her network and get her out into the sector more.

Brown said her leadership journey was a combination of transferrable skills learnt in community governance along with training and opportunities. 

“It was never about having a role, it was always about, ‘What change can I make?’”

Another major influence on her was Sir Dryden Spring, who she interviewed as part of the AWDT programme.

“I told him I wasn’t a leader, I just wanted to help people. He said to me, ‘For goodness sake Tracy, those are the best leaders – the people that want to help other people improve. If you don’t do that, you can never be a good leader. It can’t be all about yourself.’”

Brown now acts as a mentor for many young people wanting to get into leadership. One of the first questions she always asks them is what difference they want to make in the world.

“If they can’t tell you, I say ‘Go away and think about it and if you still want my help, come back.’”

The ones with good leadership potential take that on board and once they can articulate that, Brown can help them. If they are in it just for the title, they are in the wrong business, she said.

“It’s got to be about taking people on the journey with you and I’ve always remembered that.”

At a farm level, convincing farmers to make positive change comes down to role modelling what is possible and empowering other people to share their stories and be relatable role models in their community.

This also personifies what the Dairy Environment Leaders Forum is about and why Brown got involved.

“It’s about building enough people that believe in what you believe in.”

Brown will become DairyNZ’s first female chair after Jim van der Poel steps down at the organisation’s annual meeting.

She said representation has come a long way.

Groups like AWDT, DWN and Rural Women NZ have done a lot to support women.

“The pendulum has fully swung in a lot of ways.”

Brown missed out on her first attempt to get elected to the DairyNZ board, in 2018. She initially decided not to stand again but changed her mind the following year after  a former DairyNZ chair, the late John Luxton, told her the board needed people like her.

“He was a huge role model for me in terms of his leadership style. He was always very collaborative and inclusive and led from a place of humility.”

At the same time, she was offered a role by the then environment minister, David Parker, as a member of the Independent Advisory Panel for Essential Freshwater.

“It was a really challenging time when I first came on the board because I was also on that Essential Freshwater panel. I considered stepping off, but I was the only farmer voice on there.”

Being on both boards was a difficult tightrope to walk as she tried to manage potential conflicts of interest, she said.

“It was the most challenging role I’ve ever been involved with, but it was a really important role because it was so essential that there was some farmer voice in there.”

Brown noted that many of the issues that she raised but was unable to influence at the time have since been relooked at.

The lesson that the role taught her was that often people want the same thing, they just come from a different place. Finding the middle ground is key.

“Everybody wanted better water outcomes for New Zealand, but people came from different perspectives of how that can be best achieved.”

Brown comes into the role at a time when DairyNZ launches its new strategy in June. Senior staff and board members have spent a lot of time focusing on how they can ensure DairyNZ is best placed to tackle the future challenges the industry faces.

The strategy change needed to happen because the political and economic environment in which the industry operates has changed so markedly in the past decade.

“DairyNZ needed to evolve as well and we need to be able to continue to deliver on the value that we deliver to farmers.

“We only have a limited pool of levy investment, so we need to make sure we are investing in the right kinds of projects to get the best outcomes.”

Three people have been nominated for the DairyNZ board of director elections this year to fill the two positions on offer.

DairyNZ’s board consists of five farmer-elected directors and three board-appointed directors. This year, Jim van der Poel is retiring, and Jacqueline Rowarth is retiring by rotation and re-standing.

Along with Rowarth, Richard McIntyre and Kylie Leonard are also candidates.

Voting is set to open on September 19, with an election result announced at the DairyNZ annual general meeting in Canterbury on October 22.

Dairy farmer levy payers will receive a vote pack including profiles of the candidates in the mail from September 19 and can vote online or by post. Farmers have until 12pm Thursday, October 17 to cast their votes.

No nominations were received for the seat on the directors’ remuneration committee, which reviews and recommends changes to directors’ payments and other benefits each year.  The DairyNZ board will determine how this vacancy will be filled.