Chairman John Monaghan said the new scheme has not been named and Farm Source employees will interview farmers on the types of recognition and rewards it should contain.
“Once the commercial value is better understood we will decide whether to expand the programme to include financial incentives.”
A small minority of farmers who do not meet minimum standards will be subject to demerits, as is the case now.
The programme will have a new brand and identity to enable commercialisation with global customers and New Zealand consumers.
Fonterra already has a Trusted Goodness claim on many of its domestic liquid products and consumer-ready products overseas, launched two years ago.
It also has the Tiaki sustainable dairying programme for advisory services to farmers.
Both Tiaki and Trusted Goodness will come under the umbrella of the new on-farm assurance scheme, Fonterra said.
Under Fonterra’s Milk Price Model the possible financial dimension of quality assurance recognition is not as straightforward as for other processors, such as Synlait’s Lead with Pride and Te Ara Miraka.
Traceback of milk qualities is already done to the district from which a tanker load is collected.
Routine fingerprinting of milk, introduced a couple of years ago, provides the technological basis for quality payments but the co-operative equality ethos has to be preserved.
At the meeting former director Greg Gent challenged the normally routine re-appointment of PwC as Fonterra’s auditor.
The auditor’s view on Beingmate had proved to be very wrong and its valuations of China Farms also had problems.
“After 18 years the relationship between Fonterra and PwC has become too close and there needs to be a tenure limit established.”
Mongahan said a tender process is under way to apply for the 2020 financial year.
Shareholders approved the PwC re-appointment for 2019 by 85.5% of those who voted.
