Dairy farmers Matthew Herbert and Richard McIntyre have been selected to join the DairyNZ board to work alongside the directors for six meetings.
Herbert begins this month while McIntyre will join the board from July next year.
DairyNZ chairman Jim van der Poel said the associate directors have provided valuable contributions since the roles were established six years ago.
“These roles were developed as a way for our sector’s future leaders to experience first-hand how a board works and gain governance experience.
“Both Matthew and Richard bring enthusiasm and drive for the sector and individual strengths, which the board will value having around the table. Their experience will provide new thinking as the sector progresses.”
Herbert, 29, is a Taranaki-based sharemilker with a 210-cow herd and has previous governance experience from chairing his Young Farmers club.
“The exposure to governance during a really challenging time for the sector will provide great insights and grow my understanding of the governance procedures of an organisation as significant as DairyNZ.”
Herbert has long been passionate about governance, having grown up with a father who held roles on numerous boards.
“I’m really interested in applying that to agriculture.
“In the next 12 months there’s so much going on that affects our industry that DairyNZ is going to be at the forefront of so now is the time I want to be around that board table and a part of those discussions.”
In May dairy farmers, including sharemilkers, will have their say on the dairy industry’s milksolids levy, which funds ongoing research and development, environmental work and other industry initiatives.
In 2014, the once-every-six-years levy vote received record-level support with 78% of eligible farmers voting ‘yes' to continue the levy.
“I think there will a number of farmers who will voice criticisms that they haven’t raised in the past.
“It will be a very trying time for the organisation and me,” he said.
“But that’s an exciting time to get involved at board level.”
Together with his partner Brad Markham, Herbert won Auckland-Hauraki Share Farmer of the Year in 2016.
“Exposure to different farmers and their views is something I hope to bring to the table.
“The perspective of young farmers is particularly important to have at the DairyNZ board table as a lot of what is being discussed has impacts not only in the short-term but for the next decade and beyond.
“The views of smaller-scale and younger generation farmers are often lost around board tables so I hope to help change that,” he said.
Thirty-six-year-old Levin dairy and drystock farmer Richard McIntyre and wife Emma are sharemilkers who own a 450-cow herd.
“I am very excited as this provides a great opportunity to gain experience through watching the board function and by contributing to the discussion.”
McIntyre is also the Federated Farmers sharemilkers’ section chairman, a member of the Wellington Fish and Game Council, a Dairy Industry Awards trustee and a volunteer for the Manawatu Rural Support Trust.
“In my other industry roles I try to bring a sharemilker’s perspective to every meeting I attend and promote the interests of the people on the ground.
“I hope to bring that to the DairyNZ board as well and make the most of an exciting opportunity.”
Attracting directors for co-operatives is getting harder the fewer there are and the bigger they get, he said.
“More agribusinesses should be providing roles like this to develop governance among farmers.
“It’s critical that we have adequately skilled, independent farmer directors. Without that we risk having a disconnect between rural co-operatives, for instance, and their farmer shareholders they serve.”
McIntyre is encouraged to see Fonterra, Farmlands, Silver Fern Farms and the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme helping to pave the way for industry governance.
“We need to bring farmers along with us and keep them connected because otherwise what’s the point in leading?
“We’ve got to remain focused on the farmer.”
Nine other farmers have been associate directors with DairyNZ since the initiative was introduced in 2013. The associate director roles are non-voting and are for dairy farmers wanting to move beyond their farm and into sector leadership.
