McGowan was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit and Guild and Scarlett Members of the NZ Order of Merit.
The former Rural Women New Zealand national president (2013-2016) McGowan had been a member of the organisation for more than 40 years and was a former president and chairwoman of the Rotorua/Taupo province of Federated Farmers meat and fibre division.
She was also a member of the Kaimai/Mamuku Catchment Forum and represented RWNZ twice at international conferences of rural women.
Rakaia resident Guild was a former president of NZ Deer Farmers Association and director of the Game Industry Board and was now chairman of Queen Elizabeth II National Trust and the Molesworth Steering Committee.
He was the president of the NZ Association of Game Estates and chaired the organising committee of the first World Deer Congress.
Karamea farmer Scarlett was a former chairman of Westland Milk Products and a councillor for five terms on the West Coast Regional Council, including a term as chairman.
He was also chairman of the Regional Land Transport Committee and a trustee of the West Coast Ragwort Control Trust.
Three further new rural Members of the NZ Order of Merit were Marlborough farmer and mental health advocate Avery, Landcorp dairy farming leader on the West Coast Rebecca Keoghan and Foundation for Arable Research chief executive Nick Pyke, of Canterbury.
Avery was known for his pioneering work in growing and feeding lucerne to livestock for drought prevention and new farming systems for low-rainfall regions here and overseas.
The Avery family were also 2010 Lincoln Foundation South Island Farmers of the Year.
Keoghan was a director of Westland Milk Products and a former operations manager of Westport’s Holcim Cement company. She had oversight of five dairy farms in the Buller region for Landcorp and last year was named dairy woman of the year by the Dairy Women’s Network.
Pyke began FAR in 1995 and now headed 24 staff members.
The foundation was now internationally recognised in areas such as cereal, ryegrass, vegetable seed and clover yields, sustainable resource use and environmental management, the citation said.
He had extended FAR programmes to Australia and for women and young farmers in the arable industry.
North Otago farmer David Finlay was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for services to irrigation and sport.
He served for more than 40 years on committees and boards involved in community irrigation schemes and had been active in Federated Farmers and in golf and rugby administration.
Marine scientist Dr Lesley Rhodes of the Cawthron Institute in Nelson was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her revolutionary work in algal and toxic blooms affecting shellfish.
Ashburton accountant and businessman Graham Kennedy was made a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to business, including chairmanship of Cates Grain and Seed and Earth and Sky, the Tekapo-based tourism venture.
