Many skills and talents sweep new Federated Farmers board

The most contested presidential and board elections in Federated Farmers' history brought a wealth of new talent to prominence. Felicity Wolfe talks to the people who are at the forefront of championing farming's cause.
With five new personalities and a new president at the helm, there will be a new style in how Federated Farmers advocates for members' aspirations, new president Bruce Wills says.
As of Friday, July 1, Bruce has been the Federation's president, alongside new vice-president William Rolleston, Dairy Industry Group chairperson Willy Leferink, Meat & Fibre Industry Group chairperson Jeanette Maxwell, Grain & Seed Industry Group chairperson Ian MacKenzie and 'at large' board members Anders Crofoot and returning board member David Rose.
Together they have a formidable mix of skills, ticking boxes across farming, business and science. Bruce says the depth of knowledge on this board shows the votes were ''all on merit''.
''Thirty-nine intelligent men and women made their call at the Federated Farmers national conference and annual general meeting,'' Bruce says.
It also gives the board a clear mandate to take a different approach to farmer advocacy, especially when talking to Wellington's politicians. Bruce says the messages will remain pretty much the same, but there will be a greater emphasis on collaboration.
''The issues are the same this week as they were last week, but they will be confronted by a board from a more diverse background,'' Bruce says.
The collaborative approach has worked to farmers' advantage in many provinces around New Zealand, including Bruce's home province of Hawke's Bay, where he is the current provincial president.
Bruce, who was also the previous Federated Farmers Meat & Fibre chairperson and board representative, has in fact spent more of his life in cities than on the farm. This gives him a unique perspective on pressing issues like urban-rural understanding.
Bruce was born and bred on the family farm in Hawke's Bay, but left when he was 13 to board at Nelson College, before studying at what is now Lincoln University in Canterbury.
After graduating, he spent 20 years working in Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton in the banking and investment sector with AMP.
When AMP sold its rural banking arm to Rabobank in 2003, Bruce decided to give farming a go and returned to the family farm, which he now runs with his brother Scott.
''I joked on my last day at AMP that I would be throwing away my tie and wearing boots and an open neck shirt, from now on,'' Bruce said.
However, within two years he was getting involved with Federated Farmers Hawke's Bay and was elected onto the provincial executive in 2006. It has been a rewarding time. In the last three years, as the Federation's Meat & Fibre chairperson, he saw the sheep and beef industry do a much needed U-turn.
''Three years ago sheep and cattle farmers were suffering their poorest profitability in 50 years. Now they are enjoying one of their better seasons in decades,'' Bruce said.
When launching the T150 campaign to move the average lamb return up from $58 in 2008 to $150 within five years, he weathered a bit of flak, with some people saying he was setting farmer expectations too high.
Recently, Bruce was boarding an aircraft and a passenger approached, asking to shake his hand. ''He said that he had just achieved T150 and wanted to say thanks,'' Bruce says.
''T150 gave farmers hope and a belief that others were making an effort to get the sheep industry back where it needed to be. It is hugely satisfying to see this hope now being rewarded.''
A proud father of four, Bruce's eldest son Matthew (21) is embarking on a dairy career in Canterbury, his daughter Kate (20) is studying law at Victoria, Claire (18) is in her final year at secondary school, while the youngest, George (15), is in year 10.
The other National Board members
William Rolleston
(Vice-President)
William Rolleston's career places him at the junction of farming and science, giving him a rare insight into both. He has been the South Canterbury provincial president since 2009 and looks forward to bringing his perspective and political and scientific clout to his new Federated Farmers role.
His family has farmed in South Canterbury for five generations. He has lived and worked at the family property, Blue Cliffs Station, since 1988. ''I didn't grow up there, but my grandparents were there and it was a second home,'' he says.
These days, William is a co-owner of the 4000 hectare property with 20,000 sheep and beef stock units and 500 acres of exotic forestry.
A sizeable proportion of the stock is reserved for South Pacific Sera, the biotechnology company which William founded in 1988 on returning from working as a locum doctor in Britain.
Having trained and worked as a medical doctor, William developed an interest in biotechnology and research early in his career at Christchurch Hospital. On his return, while working as a locum in Timaru, he saw the possibilities available to him through the family farm.
Through South Pacific Sera, which supplies animal serum and other blood products for research around the world, he has become involved with a number of scientific bodies and industry groups.
Among many other roles, William is the current chairman of the Ministry of Science and Innovation's Innovation Board and is a board member of the Ministry's Science Board. These boards are involved in government research grants and provide advice to the Ministry. Prior to this William was a director of the Foundation For Research Science and Technology (FoRST).
He is also the chairman of Velvet Antler Research New Zealand, a joint partnership between the Deer Industry and AgResearch to develop deer velvet and deer co-products.
William was also the founding chairman of Biotenz, a biotechnology, pharmaceutical and natural products industry group aimed at growing these industries, primarily through export.
William's family has a long connection with Federated Farmers.
''Membership was one of things that goes without saying,'' William says. He first became involved with the Federation through many of his industry group activities. He remembers meeting former Federated Farmers' national meat and wool section chairman Eddie Orr, on the Ministry of Agriculture's Animal Biosecurity Consultation Committee in the 1990s.
''Eddie showed me that if you have a point of view on something and stick to your principles, you can run a very good argument,'' William says.
''We did that on BSE and stopping bovine embryos and semen being imported into New Zealand.''
Jeanette Maxwell
(Federated Farmers Meat & Fibre chairperson)
Competitive and driven are two words that spring to mind when talking to Federated Farmers new Meat & Fibre chairperson Jeanette Maxwell.
She farms Rosehill, a 300 ha sheep and beef operation in the Mid Canterbury foothills of Mt Hutt, with her husband, Alister, three teenaged children, George (17), Gabriel (15) and Rory (13), along with some input from her father-in-law, Robert.
Jeanette approaches farming and the industry's issues with the same focus, drive and determination that made her a successful sportsperson throughout her life.
Jeanette's road to becoming Federated Farmers first female Meat & Fibre chair and board member was unconventional. She started out with a stint making giant kites when she finished school then went on to become an advertising artist. Following the 1987 stock market crash and recession, she re-trained as a veterinary nurse.
She continued this career until the birth of her oldest son, but then became more involved with the work on Rosehill, which Alister had taken over managing from his father around 1990.
Like Robert and Lorna Maxwell before them, the couple became Federated Farmers members and in 2006 Jeanette began to take a more active role in the provincial Federation.
That year she took part in the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme and the FAME (Food, Agribusiness, Marketing and Experience) course, studying agribusiness marketing. She was elected to the Mid-Canterbury executive in 2007.
Since then, Jeanette has been very involved with Federated Farmers Mid-Canterbury's work on Environment Canterbury's Natural Resources Regional Plan (NRRP) which became fully operational this year.
A lifelong sports fanatic, Jeanette has ''basically given up competitive sport for the Federation'' and is realistic about the demands of the job. However, competitive as ever, she looks forward to the challenges of representing New Zealand's meat and fibre producers at the highest levels at one of the brightest periods in the industry's recent history.
She is also looking forward to working with her fellow board members, most of whom she knows well. ''Bruce [Wills] and I did our first Federated Farmers meeting together and William Rolleston's wife grew up on the farm next door to my husband,'' Jeanette says.
Willy Leferink
(Federated Farmers Dairy chairperson)
Mid Canterbury dairy farmer Willy Leferink arrived from Holland about two decades ago with his wife Jeanet and their children.
As a farmer who has benefited from the career pathway offered by New Zealand's sharemilking system, Willy is enthusiastic about ensuring it remains a healthy and viable option for young dairy trainees.
He had been working in the meat industry in his homeland, but saw the opportunities the New Zealand dairy industry offered.
Willy started sharemilking in Waikato, later moving to Taranaki, then ending up in Mid-Canterbury.
With interests in a number of diverse farming businesses, Willy is now an enthusiastic employer of sharemilkers at a range of levels.
His involvement with Federated Farmers is long-standing. He was previously the Dairy Industry Group's vice-chairman behind former chairman Lachlan MacKenzie. Willy has put in a lot of work on environmental issues facing dairy farmers and understands farmers' concerns around protracted resource consent processes impeding innovation.
He has also had a lot to do with water management and infrastructure issues, especially around Mid-Canterbury. Both Willy and Jeanet are on the board of the Ashburton Aquatic Park Charitable Trust which oversees the man-made recreational water body, Lake Hood.
Ian MacKenzie
(Federated Farmers Grain & Seed chairperson)
Ian Mackenzie is returning to active Federated Farmers duties after a few years concentrating on Canterbury's water issues. He is hosting a group of Australian academics as part of an Environment Canterbury demonstration of the benefits collaboration between local government and farming communities.
This small duty is testament to years of work Ian put into the vital issue of water infrastructure and in developing good working relationships with local government officials.
Ian was recently elected as Grain & Seed Industry Group's chairman and then elected onto the National Board on July 1.
A former provincial president, Ian's previous Federation involvement started in 1990, as Mid-Canterbury's Arable chairperson. As a member of Federated Farmers Transport committee alongside national vice-president Malcolm Lumsden, he was involved in getting excise tax removed from diesel fuel.
''I can see I may well have more work to do on that front,'' Ian says, wryly noting recent attempts by the AA to get it reinstated.
While he has not been actively involved in the Federation for some time, he is very aware of agricultural issues, especially around water storage and irrigation schemes.
In the intervening years, Ian has been an active campaigner for Mid-Canterbury irrigation projects and is experienced in dealing with the regional council. At present, he is on Irrigation NZ's board and is chairman of the Eiffelton Irrigation Scheme.
Federated Farmers senior policy advisor Lionel Hulme was employed while Ian was Mid-Canterbury president. They have worked together on many water issues, including Federated Farmer's submission to the NRRP and developing the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.
Ian has also been involved in a variety of industry initiatives. He helped set up the Foundation of Arable Research and was part of a group that initiated the Federation's Leadership Courses.
''I am not just bringing years of dealing with water issues to the board. I have been involved with many issues over the years.
''Now is an exciting time, for me and for the Federation, with this new mix of personalities on the board.''
David Rose
Southland sheep and beef farmer David Rose is excited about the opportunities in his industry at the moment and about making ideas in the recently released Red Meat Strategy happen.
This topic has been close to his heart since 1995 when he did a Kellogg Rural Leadership course project on the future of the sheep meat industry.
David's ''Vision for the Future'' was about using a committed 12-month supply to free up money being spent in procurement for market place investment. He believed at the time this change would end weak selling and allow a more co-ordinated marketing approach, growing the pie for all.
''Sixteen years later, we still haven't made that quantum change,'' David says. ''Now, with the current vastly improved returns we are getting, the time is right for change.''
David was first elected to the Federated Farmers National Board in 2009. He has shown extraordinary determination and focus to represent farmers and is always only a phone call away.
To date, he has been co-spokesman for the environment, water and the Resource Management Act, adverse events, rural security, health and education, Rural Women liaison and associate spokesman for Local Government.
Before this, David was Southland provincial president for four years where he honed many years' experience working with local government, particularly regional councils.
David is also very experienced around environmental issues. The dairy industry in particular has been targeted, but he believes the Federation must stand firm against emotion as without common sense and science all farmers' ability to farm is threatened.
Having attended eight AGMs this year, David says the Federation needs more members to realise how enjoyable and rewarding becoming actively involved with the Federation is.
''We also need to understand any obstacles stopping younger farmers getting involved, as they are our future,'' David says.
David and his wife Helen have two boys, Hamish (17) and Mark (15). He says if he had not been a farmer he would have been an accountant, as he enjoys figures and demystifying what financial statements are saying.
Anders Crofoot
Newly elected Federated Farmers board member Anders Crofoot has come a long way from a career as a New York quantitative analyst.
Anders and his wife Emily moved to the iconic Wairarapa sheep and beef station, Castlepoint in 1998 with their now adult children David and Sarah.
''We wanted to farm in the best pastoral-based agriculture system in the world,'' Anders says.
Emily's family had farmed upstate New York for generations, but New York City was overtaking them.
''We were an hour away from Manhattan and it was a farm with six storey apartment blocks beside it,'' says Anders.
''Emily's father used to say he was in banking to keep fiscally afloat and in farming to keep his sanity.''
Even before they married, the couple talked about emigrating and once they had children the Crofoots wanted to bring them up in a less materialistic culture.
In 1998, Castlepoint came on the market and the Crofoots snapped up the deal within weeks, emigrating in September that year.
Anders is passionate about New Zealand's pastoral-based farming, which is completely different from the United States' traditional grain-based systems. It helps that there is year-round grass growth in Wairarapa, compared to six months of frost and snow in New York State. His appreciation of pastoral systems is reflected in his second term as the New Zealand Grassland Association president. This is a membership-based association, unique in its makeup of scientists, farmers and agribusiness.
Anders has also been extensively involved with Federated Farmers, notably as Wairarapa's provincial president over the past four years. His focus on building relationships with local councils made it possible for the Federation to negotiate significantly better terms for the province's farmers around vegetation clearance, earthworks and biodiversity in the Wairarapa Combined District Plan. He sits on the Wairarapa Biodiversity Steering Group and the Wairarapa Landscape Study Steering Group.
Anders is also a member of the Wairarapa Development Group and was appointed to the board of the Greater Wellington Regional Council's economic development agency, Grow Wellington.