Shane McManaway has been made a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to agriculture and the community.
Contributions to agriculture and rural communities were among those recognised in the recent New Year Honours List 2022.
Michael Dunbier was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to agricultural science.
Dunbier was director of DSIR Crop Research from 1983 to 1992 before being appointed foundation chief executive of the NZ Institute for Crop and Food Research.
The first overseas board member of the Australian Grain Research Development Corporation, Dunbier was an initial board member of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology and chair of the Arable Food Industry Council.
He has held governance roles at organisations, including Dairy InSight, AgResearch, SunPrime Seeds, Pastoral Genomics, Foundation for Arable Research, the Centre of Research Excellence in Bio-Protection at Lincoln University and Food Standards NZ.
Peter Fennessy was made an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit for services to agricultural science and business, recognising his focus on bridging science and business in the NZ agricultural and biotechnology sectors.
He was general manager of AgResearch Invermay from 1992 to 1997 and founded AbacusBio in 2001.
Fennessy has held governance and management roles across numerous small-to-medium NZ agri-and biotechnology start-ups and enterprises and has worked with Māori enterprises to add commercial value through science.
He has been retained by government and industry research organisations in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Brunei.
Dianne Milne was made an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit for services to the rural community.
In 1989 Milne was the first woman elected chair of Rotomanu Federated Farmers.
She was West Coast provincial chair of Meat and Wool NZ from 1992 to 2000, is a former provincial president of West Coast Federated Farmers and a former director of Phoenix Meat Company.
She chaired the West Coast Rural Support Trust from its inception in 1997 until 2020 and has remained a trustee since stepping down as chair.
Milne was also a member of the West Coast Regional Animal Health Committee from 1992 to 2004.
Jessie Chan was made a member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to dairy and agriculture.
Chan was on the Federated Farmers Dairy Section national executive between 2009 and 2017 and was vice president and chair of the Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers Dairy section. She has been a Fonterra Shareholders’ councillor, an associate director of DairyNZ, was Fonterra’s Dairy Woman of the Year in 2017 and has been on the Land Use Futures board.
She has been a member of Ruralco board since 2013, becoming chair in 2021, and is a current director of Ngāi Tahu Farming Limited.
Graeme Fenton has been made a member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to rural and Māori health.
In 1997 Fenton set up the first publicly funded rural locum and education service for general practitioners and practice nurses in New Zealand and was a director for 17 years. As North Island rural director from 2000 to 2001, he worked in rural communities and was involved in the rural implementation of the Primary Healthcare Strategy. He served on the NZ Rural General Practice Network board from 2004 to 2008.
Ian Jordan has been made a member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to the livestock industry.
Jordan established his Willowhaugh Southdown stud flock in 1956 and took over his father’s Jersey stud in 1964. His Southdowns were awarded grand champion all breed meat sheep at the NZ Agricultural Show and judged Supreme Animal of the Show in both 2017 and 2019.
His Willowhaugh cows have won numerous championships, including Royal Show Supreme Champion Jersey, South Island World Conference Champion and five-time winner of South Island champion cow. He was a committee member of the NZ Ploughing Association from 1976 to 1997 and has been patron since 2007.
Shane McManaway has been made a member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to agriculture and the community.
McManaway formed and has been chair of Platinum Primary Producers (PPP) Group since 2005, a collective of 120 primary producers across Australasia and Asia. The group supports communities through fundraisers, including raising $45,000 for those affected by the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes.
He founded the Zanda McDonald Award in 2015 to recognise young people in primary industry sectors and support their career development with access to the expertise of PPP members.
Sue Miller has been made a member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to agricultural journalism.
Miller held several press and public affairs roles before beginning her involvement with the NZ Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators (NZGAJC). She was national secretary and awards administrator of NZGAJC from 2003 until her retirement in 2020.
She organised conferences for the guild’s 50th and 60th anniversaries and spearheaded the guild’s hosting of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) World Congress in 2015.
Gloria McHutchon was awarded a Queen’s Service Medal for services to the community.
In response to the growth in farmers from other nations in West Otago, McHutchon, a qualified ESOL teacher, has been voluntarily teaching English to speakers of other languages since 2006. She is part of a group who provide ‘Welcome Boxes’ consisting of necessities and baking to welcome farm workers to the region.
She is vice chairperson of Moa Flat Rural Women, organised Armistice Day centenary celebrations for West Otago, chairs annual Anzac services at Heriot and Dunedin and has been a member of Heriot Plunket Society for more than 40 years.
Sandra Spier was awarded a Queen’s Service Medal for services to health and the community.
Spier provides access to first aid and first aid training for remote and rural areas and free basic first aid training for school children and new mothers through several community centres. She covers the areas from Taupō, Taumarunui, Whanganui Awa, National Park, Jerusalem, Pipiriki and farming stations in the Gentle Annie and Rangitīkei Awa areas. She also visits rural schools to deliver free basic first aid training.
