MANAGEMENT
MACHINERY
EDUCATION
Deer and sheep farmer no quitter. PAGE 26
Double celebration for Waikato company. PAGE 30
Parental block holding kids back from agricultural careeers PAGE 11
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS DECEMBER 4, 2018: ISSUE 666
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Let’s try again! SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
TWO UNSUCCESSFUL candidates in the recent Fonterra director election will get another chance to join the board. John Nicholls and Jamie Tuuta will face off in a second election called this month by the Fonterra shareholders council. The first election saw only two of the five candidates secure the minimum 50% ‘yes’ vote needed among shareholders, leaving one vacancy on the 11-member board. The council decided to open the second election only to the three unsuccessful candidates. However, former Fonterra director Ashley Waugh, who also missed out in the first election, decided not to stand again. “I decided not to contest; I have full respect for the shareholders’ decision,” Waugh told Rural News. Voting for the second board election opened on December 3; Fonterra shareholders have until 1pm on December 20 to cast their votes. Results will be announced later the same day. Council chairman Duncan Coull says the rules of the first election state that if not enough candidates obtain more than 50% support there must be a second election. “This is the first time a second director election has been required,” Coull says. “After careful consideration, the shareholders council has determined that the second election will be a vote
between the unsuccessful candidates nominated in the first election who wish to re-stand.” As with the first election, a successful candidate must obtain more than 50% support from shareholders who vote. Coull says if both candidates get more than 50% support then the candidate with the highest level of support will be elected. “If no candidate gets more than 50% support there will not be a third election and the board may exercise its
AMAZING OPPORTUNITY PALMERSTON NORTH Girls High School’s Saskia Gilbert and 31 other teachers from the lower North Island took part in the recent Ag Day Out annual event organised by Growing NZ, DairyNZ and Rural News Group. The teachers toured Wairarapa, visiting a large honey company, the Juken timber mill and manufacturing plant and a rural contracting business. They also heard from recent graduates working in agriculture. Gilbert, who teaches biology and chemistry, says she was amazed at the career opportunities available for young people in the primary sector. “I haven’t had much to do with the agriculture sector, so seeing the kind of opportunities that exist is a huge benefit to me.” – See full story page 4
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constitutional power to make a temporary appointment until the 2019 annual meeting is completed.” However, it cannot appoint one of the unsuccessful candidates. Coull says new candidates will have the opportunity to put themselves forward next year as part of the 2019 director election cycle. In the first election, Leonie Guiney and Peter McBride secured more than 50% support from voting shareholders. Three sitting directors retired by rotation; former chairman John Wilson
stepped down from the board. Another sitting director, Nicola Shadbolt, was not endorsed by the independent selection panel. Waugh also contested and lost the first election despite being nominated by the board. McBride was also favoured by Fonterra’s appointment panel, however Guiney was nominated by farmers. Like McBride, Tuuta – a Maori agribusiness leader – was nominated by the Fonterra board, while John Nicholls – a large-scale farmer – nominated himself.
‘MOP-TOP’ HERE TO STAY PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
“THE CURE must not kill the patient,” says Potatoes NZ chief executive Chris Claridge. That thinking underlies the decision to manage the potato mop top virus (PMTV), confirmed in NZ in September, rather than attempt to eradicate it. “We are working with MPI and just going into the transition into long term management,” Claridge told Rural News. “While we don’t believe it is technically feasible to eradicate it, it might well be possible to contain it. But this is a pragmatic move: the difficulties associated with eradication were too high…. “The international advice we had was we couldn’t do it and also there would be too much disruption to the industry if we went down the eradication path. The cure must not kill the patient.” The disease was found in Canterbury in the Innovator variety which is only used for potato chips. That variety was last imported as germplasm into NZ in July 2011. Affected potatoes can display symptoms including distortions of the skin, deep cracking and rustcoloured arcs, streaks or flecks in the tuber flesh. MPI says the disease is endemic to North America and Europe where it is generally managed effectively without causing major production losses.