Jex-Blake, of Gisborne, said he appreciated the support from farmers but also felt the mantle of responsibility to deliver on his shoulders.
“I stood on a platform of driving change and that will be my focus from day one,” he said.
He felt another MIE colleague, Don Morrison, who was elected to the Alliance Group board, would have a tougher time convincing fellow board members to be open to change.
He was confident Tararua dairy farmer and Fonterra director John Monaghan would get on the board as an independent director at the next meeting, which would make the push for change easier.
The shareholder resolution proposing Monaghan be appointed to the board had significant support, he said.
He hoped that board would react responsibly to the message that there was a need for change, he said.
The voter turnout was 26.76% of eligible voters, up from 16.70% in the previous election in 2010.
Chairman-elect Rob Hewett said the increase in voter turnout reflected the understanding of a need for reform across the industry.
“We are acutely aware of the need to keep up momentum for reform and we saw the increased farmer turnout at this election as a key indicator of farmers’ desire to support the co-operative,” Hewett said.
“The Meat Industry Excellence group members’ election platform was well aligned to the Silver Fern Farms board’s own vision, in particular their call for farmers to support co-operatives and farmer ownership, so we take great heart in that farmers have voted for such a movement and we look forward to increased farmer support at an operational level.
“I look forward to officially welcoming Richard and Dan on to the board. We have been progressing options for industry change over the past 18 months and their farmer support base will be invaluable as we continue to look at ways for farmer ownership to drive change and improve farmer control of the sector.
The results of the SFF election, which closed at 3pm Friday, were:
Richard Young: 36,155,094
Dan Jex-Blake: 25,511,166
David Shaw: 19,435,482
“While this election has shown farmers want change, we can’t let the momentum fall away. Our board is investigating options for change. “Farmers now need to step up and jointly drive that momentum for change. The next step for farmers is to see increased numbers of farmers exclusively supplying their co-operatives.”
Votes were received from 1351 eligible voters from a total of 5049 eligible voters.
To become eligible shareholders needed to meet requirements that included supplying a minimum level of stock for processing over the past two seasons.
Young, of Gore, said he felt encouraged and vindicated to be elected to the board.
“It is gratifying to see the support from the farmers but the hard work starts now,” he said.
The result showed MIE’s push for change was supported, he said.
“The message is coming through loud and clear to both Alliance and Silver Fern Farms through a good voter turnout that we have a mandate for change.”
He was encouraged by Hewett’s comments about the need to keep up momentum for reform.
“At the end of the day the processing sector has shown it is not delivering,” Young said.
The next step was to get around the board table and start making calculations, he said.
Related story: MIE’s Morrison on Alliance board
