It makes you pause and think what if every Fonterra farmer was proud enough of their co-op to tell the world they are proud Fonterra farmers?
Better still, what if the New Zealand public was proud enough of Fonterra that it became a Kiwi icon like the All Blacks or Red Bands?
I don’t have a sign but I’m a proud Fonterra farmer.
Because, if we aren’t proud of Fonterra and our industry how can we expect the rest of NZ and the world to be?
I came across a quote recently that reads “Be proud of who you are and not ashamed of how someone else sees you”.
The challenge is how can we change the perception of our industry and how can we ensure we don’t confuse pride with arrogance.
Fonterra has just announced the launch of a new programme for the coming season called The Co-operative Difference.
It is designed to recognise farmers who achieve set on-farm standards in five areas – environment, animal welfare, milk quality, people and communities and our co-operative and prosperity.
All the areas are integral to ensuring we have both a sustainable farming business and a sustainable co-operative.
When I say sustainable I mean financially, socially and environmentally as these go hand in hand and we can’t have one without the others.
So, it is great to see people, our communities, our co-operative and prosperity included in the programme.
It is also vital in a customer-facing business to ensure we can meet customers’ needs, which seem to increasingly focus on knowing what they have bought has been ethically and sustainably produced.
So, rather than seeing this as mission creep behind the farm gate, I see this as a positive move enabling us to showcase the good on-farm work we are doing. It’s one way we can enable farmers to be proud of the work they are doing and hopefully help to change the perception of our industry.
However, to me the Co-operative Difference means something quite different to the recognition programme just launched.
The Co-operative Difference is about 150 years of having a co-operative model in the dairy industry, which is the legacy of the many generations that came before us. It was their passion, determination and support that have ensured this model still exists today and we must ensure we show the same attributes to ensure we have a strong co-operative for generations.
My husband and I farm across different sectors and no other sector has a strong co-operative at the centre of it that sets out every day to maximise the amount it pays for our products.
Fonterra turns up every day we want it to, collects our product no matter how much or how little we have produced, pays the highest price it can then processes and sells it to share any profit with us. Then, when times are tough, it supports the suppliers with an interest-free loan and deferred payment options through Farm Source.
It is very rare to see this behaviour outside a co-operative. To me, that is The Co-operative Difference.
I went to a meeting recently where an ex director said “Don’t ask what your co-op is doing for you – ask yourself what you have done for your co-op recently”.
Everyone has a responsibility in our co-operative.
The board’s role is to govern and hold management to account. The Shareholders’ Council is there to represent shareholders. The role of management is to execute the strategy and manage the operations.
Our role as farmers is to provide quality, sustainably produced milk and our role as shareholders is to engage with the co-op, read the information provided and make informed choices when voting.
The Co-operative Difference for Fonterra is we have clearly separated governance from representation.
The Shareholders’ Council is often the target of criticism with various views ranging from lapdog, toothless tiger and not worth the money to my personal favourite, they just go to Auckland to drink cups of tea.
I can assure you I have better things to do with my time and shareholders’ money than fly to Auckland to drink cups of tea and I prefer coffee anyway.
So, if we are the subject of criticism either we are not performing our role or there is a misconception about what our actual role is.
Let’s be clear.
It is not our role to tell the board or management what to do, approve decisions made by the board or sack the board.
The ultimate power in a co-operative rests with shareholders who can hold the board to account by exercising their right to vote.
The council’s role is to represent shareholders.
We do this through three main functions of monitoring performance, guardianship of the co-operative philosophy and the director election process and connection with farmers, which includes sharing knowledge with an engaged farmer base.
We report to shareholders through our annual report, regular emails and from time to time special reports like the assessment of Fonterra’s financial performance since inception published last year.
However, probably our most effective way of communicating is via conversations with farmers, which is why your council is increasing efforts this year to connect with even more farmers.
Later this year nominations for councillors will be called for in a third of council wards because of rotation.
That is your chance to put yourself or another shareholder forward to help shape the future of our co-operative.
Again, for me, this is The Co-operative Difference, the people who form the heart of our co-operative, whether they are farmers, shareholders, employees, councillors or board members, people who are passionate about their industry and the co-operative because at the end of the day we all want the same thing here – a successful, sustainable industry that creates goodness for generations to come.
And we all need to play our part in ensuring that happens.
