Thankfully now with a range of good risk management options, wider use of benchmarking and budgets that can be recalculated at the touch of a hand-held device, farmers have more protection than ever.
But what about a risk out of the blue such as the recent threat to poison milk powder with 1080? Most dairy farmers would acknowledge there’s little that they can do apart from leaving the matter firmly in Police and Government hands, whether they think they acted fast enough or not.
The industry has had to take a back seat, because the issue is of such national and international concern its hopeful resolution is out of their hands.
However it’s important to note when all the fuss dies down where the two threats were addressed to November last year – Fonterra and Federated Farmers. And here’s where farmers do get to have their voice heard and are able to run a very good ruler over the results obtained.
In an age of greater connectivity than ever, with phone, text, email and the web always at hand it’s strange that in some ways farmers are less connected than ever.
Sure, the chairman of Fonterra, John Wilson, regularly texts about matters of interest to farmers, analysts and commentators pick up on small price moves or supply changes and distribute it through all manner of media where it’s further discussed and dissected.
But when it comes to actual participation in their co-op many Fonterra farmers are much less involved than they were in their various dairy companies before its formation.
Yes, there are onfarm meetings they can, and do, attend, hopeful candidates tour the country seeking their vote in the run-up to director elections and Fonterra moves its annual meeting around regional centres so no area feels missed out.
But those who attend these gatherings often are the same old faces. Onfarm there’s a group who, for whatever reason, think actual decision-making is out of their control.
So it’s great that some pressure is coming on in the form of proposals putto the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council (FSC) around farmer voting for its members. While the co-op’s supply number signs declare, “It all starts here…” when it comes to representation it definitely starts at local councillor level. Anything that can be done to attract a wider pool of interested farmers to take on this role and more of their counterparts to vote must be welcomed.
The image of the council suffered in the past when its chairmen went on to become Fonterra directors. There’s nothing wrong with that – it’s a completely natural progression.
But it fuelled feelings among farmers, who may have already semi-switched off, that this was their objective all along. Recently more director hopefuls have come forward from business, local body and academic backgrounds, giving a wider representation choice which leaves farmers no excuse not to make their well-considered pick.
More involvement in voting for both council members and directors is one way of making absolutely certain that the very best people keep coming through. And if they’re not up to farmers’ high standards they should consider putting themselves up for election.
With Federated Farmers the lack of new blood is quite understandable – giving up time when there are all the demands of running ever bigger businesses and demands from the family is a hard thing to do.
But if New Zealand loses the strength of its farming lobby everyone will be poorer.
In political spheres, both local and national, it’s never been more necessary that farmers speak with one voice. While a little inter-sectorial rivalry might be tolerated by those in power, they want to know above all, the farming view they are given is well-founded, represents the majority and, most importantly, is workable.
If that view can’t be provided through not enough farmers being involved in the policy formulation process there’s much more to be lost – not just for farmers or dairying, but for the whole country.
• One dairy farmer who stood up for his home province of Northland but never hesitated to take a national view was former Dairy Board director Mac Gordon, who died recently at the age of 78.
He farmed at Waipu and was elected to the Mid-Northland Dairy Company in 1970. He saw through several mergers to hold a seat on the Northland Dairy Company, representing it on the Dairy Board from 1979 for the next 17 years. During this time he was also the board’s representative on the Meat Board for three years.
Greg Gent, who followed in Mac’s footsteps as a Northland, Dairy Board and then Fonterra director remembers Mac as a strong supporter of co-operatives.
“It meant a great deal to him.”
He was also heavily involved in the successful establishment and development of markets for consumer products, such as milk powder, in South East Asian countries through the 1990s.
