Farmlands New Chairman

Media Statement
February 18 2004

Farmlands New Chairman

The Board of Farmlands Trading Society has elected Waikato director Lachie Johnstone as its new chairman.

Mr Johnstone, 35, has a financial and farming background. He qualified and worked as a company accountant before moving back to the family farm at Matira, near Hamilton 10 years ago.

He has been a Farmlands director for three years after a new ward was created to represent members in Waikato region following Farmlands expansion in the area.

Mr Johnstone said he has always supported Farmlands because he believes in the co-operative ethos.

“It’s a great mix – a company driven by the hard and fast rules of commercial business that’s tempered with the strong sense of ownership and pride of its members, governed by directors that are a true representative of the customer base,” he said.

“This year will be a good indicator of whether farmers now spend more on their farms to improve productivity or whether it still relates to economic times.

In the past four years farm expenditure has increased dramatically as farmers have invested more on-farm to increase production levels and livestock performance.

“After some of best years in farming, it’s a far tougher outlook. Cash-flow will always factor in farm supply costs and there will be less discretionary income, he said.

“Farmers face the challenge of not wanting to lose the performance gains they have been achieving - they are far more technically and production focused. It will be interesting if farmers are still prepared to spend to make more, and at what level.”

“I became involved with Farmlands because it is an organisation that benefits the farming community and helps keep our costs as low as possible. This is always major factor when considering where to spend our farming dollar ,” he said.

Ends

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