KEY POINTS:
Farmers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of merging industry bodies Dairy InSight and Dexcel, now they need to step up and take control, says Dairy Farmers of New Zealand chairman Frank Brenmuhl.
Dairy InSight collects a levy to fund research, while Dexcel undertakes research - both are ultimately responsible to farmers.
The merger was approved by 93 per cent of farmers, although only 19 per cent - 26 per cent based on milk supply - bothered to vote, Brenmuhl said.
"A lot of farmers didn't vote because they saw that it was going to happen, there was no choice, therefore they wouldn't be bothered, which is really disappointing."
Similar mandates for the two organisations meant they had opposed each other, Brenmuhl.
Dairy InSight was responsible for collecting the levy and decided how it would be spent, but Dexcel's trust deed said it would be bulk funded and would also choose how to spend its money.
"So for the last five or six years that's been the scrap," Brenmuhl said.
According to its 2006 annual report Dairy InSight had a levy of 3.4c (plus GST) per kilogram of milk solids and invested a total of $49.1 million.
The merger was probably the best outcome at this point, Brenmuhl said.
"But one of the things that does need to happen is farmers need to take ownership of this, they need to get in behind it, they need to work with it and stop bitching and moaning."
One concern about the operation of a combined funding and research agency was a need for clear accountability, he said.
Dexcel chairman Jim van der Poel said he was pleased the new organisation could get on with delivering better value to farmers.
"The new organisation will not only be more efficient to run, it will have the capability to drive forward an investment model that delivers better value to farmers for their levy investments," van der Poel said.
A higher turnout would have been preferred, although discussion had shown most farmers "simply wanted us to get on with it", he said.
Dexcel chief executive Tim Mackle, who will retain his position in the merged company, said farmers would vote on continuing the levy in just over six months' time.
"Our challenge is to demonstrate our ability to build on the momentum created by Dexcel and Dairy InSight," Mackle said. "In particular we want to take our delivery to the next level so that farmers can clearly identify the value we add and understand how their money is spent."
The yet to be named merged company would start operating on November 1.
