The Beef + Lamb New Zealand Farmer Council has elected Marton farmer William Morrison as its next national chairman.
Morrison replaces retiring King Country farmer, Martin Coup who has been the chairman since 2012.
The Beef + Lamb New Zealand Farmer Councils are aligned to the organisation's geographic electorates and they were established in 2010 as a network for guiding and advising Beef + Lamb New Zealand in identifying farmers' extension and research and development needs.
The seven farmer councils are made up of volunteer farmer councillors and a regional chair, elected by the council. Their main responsibility is to work alongside Beef + Lamb New Zealand team members to develop their region's Regional Delivery Plan (RDP) which determines what mix of extension events meet the needs of each region's farmers for the year ahead.
Outgoing Farmer Council Chairman Martin Coup said a major achievement of the councils under his tenure had been the development of the Farmer Research Advisory Group (FRAG) which identifies research priorities for the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Board to consider for levy investment.