2011 Federated Farmers Agri Award winners

1 July 2011

2011 Federated Farmers Agri Award winners

Andrew Ferrier, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fonterra Cooperative Group has become Federated Farmers Agribusiness Person of the Year for 2011. Meanwhile, John Hartnell and the Farmy Army were also named Agri Personality of the Year for 2011 at a gala awards evening held last night at the Distinction Rotorua Hotel.

Agribusiness Person of the Year in association with Vodafone

Andrew Ferrier, Chief Executive, Fonterra Cooperative Group

Andrew Ferrier has been Chief Executive Officer of Fonterra for nearly eight years. He took over the reins soon after the formation of Fonterra and since then, has transformed the business with a real focus on performance and maximising shareholder returns.

He has restructured the business to support the strategy and Fonterra is now comprised of separate strategic business units - each with its own profit centre to provide transparency across the business.

Along with strengthening the financial performance of the cooperative, Andrew has brought together three very different cultures from the three legacy companies to develop a high performance leadership team.

Mr Ferrier has further led a programme of work to give more clarity around the vision, strategy and values which will drive Fonterra well into the future.

In June 2009, Fonterra was ranked the number one milk processor in the world by global industry research group, International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN), which benchmarked 600 milk processors in over 70 countries. It placed Fonterra’s total annual volume of milk processed ahead of Dairy Farmers of America, Nestlé, Dean Foods and FrieslandCampina.

The ranking reflected the global reach and scale of the company’s business, with its New Zealand milk supply and manufacturing operations at the core. With 80 percent of Fonterra’s milk supply coming from our 10,500 New Zealand farmer shareholders and processed into over two million tonnes of export product every year, its local operations, which employ about 10,000 staff, are the cornerstone of Fonterra’s global business.

While the IFCN ranking showed the size and scale of its operations, Fonterra’s strength lies in its ability to partner with its customers to add value to their businesses. The way its differentiates is through achieving the best quality, offering the most innovative dairy solutions and delivering product on time to meet its customers’ changing demands.

Fonterra was named as “Exporter of the Year to the USA” at the American Chamber of Commerce Awards. Fonterra was also awarded Supreme Winner at the ceremony. The award reflected the strength of Fonterra’s broadening relationships with key global customers in the United States, including some of the world’s leading food and nutrition companies.

Andrew Ferrier is a deserved recipient of the 2011 Agribusiness Person of the Year in association with Vodafone.

The other nominees recognised last evening were:

§ Dr Douglas Edmeades - Managing Director, agKnowledge

§ Larry Bilodeau - Chief Executive, Ballance Agri-nutrients

§ Barry Quayle - General Manager, NZ National Fieldays

§ Craig Hickson - Managing Director, Progressive Meats

Agri-Personality of the Year in association with Vodafone

John Hartnell and the Farmy Army

John Hartnell was nominated to recognise his leadership of the ‘Farmy-Army’, which assisted Christchurch’s earthquake recovery from February of this year and again in June.

John was prepared to lead the Federation's efforts to help the people of urban Christchurch in the recovery phase of the earthquake’s aftermath. In taking on the role as Federated Farmers Earthquake Spokesperson the morning after the earthquake, John worked closely with Civil Defence to understand the immediate needs of Christchurch residents and to identify assistance that would fit with the abilities and enthusiasm of our farmer members.

Over the next two days, John worked closely with a core group of Federated Farmers members to assemble a volunteer group and a base at the A+P Showgrounds. This included a team of support staff, team leaders and cooks. Sponsors were very keen to help in tangible ways, including cash donations, equipment, food and drinks.

The media were inspired by the actions of Federated Farmers and thus, the ‘Farmy Army’ was born.

We all know the efforts and achievements in the four weeks of help given to Christchurch and now, a further week jointly with the Student Volunteer Army.

What has amazed many, are the number of Christchurch people who, upon learning you are a farmer, very quickly and without prompting say, "are you part of the Farmy Army? What a magnificent job", or "they arrived an cleared my elderly neighbour's section" and "they cleaned up my driveway when I was away working", "They were a Godsend"

The actions of the Farmy Army did a tremendous job in breaking down the rural-urban divide with compassion and caring shown by country people; something not so often seen in big cities today.

Most certainly John was assisted by a large team, but his leadership, inspiration and dedication to that team was a pivotal part of the success of the Farmy Army. John's trademark "hand on the shoulder" is his most genuine was of saying "Thanks, your help is most appreciated".

Mr Hartnell played tribute in his acceptance to Murray Rowlands, North Canterbury Grain & Seed chairperson, for his leadership during last year’s Canterbury earthquake. Overall, John Hartnell, Commander in Chief of the Farmy Army, is a deserved winner of the 2011 Agri-Personality of the Year on behalf of everyone who volunteered in the Farmy Army.

Federated Farmers Cream of the Crop in association with Ravensdown

This brings all of agriculture’s main award winners together under the same roof. The Federated Farmers Cream of the Crop awards recognises those who have won various national awards over the past twelve months.

§ New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Sharemilker / Equity Farmers of the Year - Jason & Lisa Suisted

§ New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Sharemilker / Equity Farmers of the Year Federated Farmers Leadership Award - Richard and Joanna Greaves

§ New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Farm Manager of the Year - Jason Halford

§ New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Dairy Trainee of the Year - Ben Smith

§ Rural Women New Zealand Enterprising Rural Women Supreme Awards - Lisa Harper

§ Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Māori Excellence in Farming Award - Waipapa 9 Trust (Dawson Haa, Chairman)

§ NZ Young Farmers National Bank Young Farmer of the Year 2010 - Grant McNaughton

§ New Zealand Farm Environment Award Trust Ballance Farm Environment Award - Grant and Bernadette Weller

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