Dairy Australia will hold its annual general meeting on November 28 as part of a farmer forum, and will also be accessible online.
The interactive forum and AGM will be held in the Murray River town of Moama, providing the opportunity for farmers to engage over lunch and dinner, hear from other farmers and industry leaders on feedbase and climate, and find out more about the value Dairy Australia delivers to farmers.
There are four vacancies on the Dairy Australia Board.
Two of the four vacant positions are for directors with milk producer skills, one is for a director with agribusiness, innovation and adoption skills, and another for a director with dairy supply chain and product promotion skills.
The terms of three directors — Roseanne Healy, Tania Luckin and Paul Roderick — expire at the AGM. Mr Roderick will stand for re-election, while Ms Luckin and Ms Healy will retire from the board.
The term of Paul van Heerwaarden, who was appointed to fill a casual vacancy in December 2022 also expires at the AGM. He is standing for re-election.
Dairy Australia’s Board Selection Committee chair Tania Luckin said “after a comprehensive search and interview process, four candidates are recommended” by the committee.
They are Paul Bennett (agribusiness, innovation and adoption skills), Paul van Heerwaarden (dairy supply chain and product promotion skills), Karen Moroney (milk producer skills) and Paul Roderick (milk producer skills).
Mr Bennett is from Tasmania and is chair of family owned and award-winning Ashgrove Cheese. He was previously the chair of DairyTas, is a dairy and beef farmer and is involved in many community and youth organisations.
Mr van Heerwaarden’s family farming background led him to a career path in agribusiness including six years as chief executive officer of Bega Cheese. He has served on a number of company and joint venture boards including for several years as a member director of Dairy Innovation Australia.
Ms Moroney is a farmer from Eskdale in north-east Victoria and is a former chair of Murray Dairy. She is also a director of rural financial counselling service AgBiz Assist, and president of the Mitta Valley Landcare Group.
Appointed to the board in November 2020, Mr Roderick has operated his family dairy farm at Harrisville in south-east Queensland for the past 30 years. He was previously chair of Subtropical Dairy and had a role in setting up the Young Dairy Network in Queensland.
Dairy Australia members will vote for directors at the AGM or in advance by proxy. To be successfully elected to the vacant director roles, each nominee will require a majority of the votes cast.
All levy payers are eligible to become members of Dairy Australia and vote at general meetings.
A hotline (1800 004 377) and email address (membership@dairyaustralia.com.au) have been set up for levy payers to become a member or check their details are correct.
For more information on the director election process, go to: https://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/directorelections#.ZGGx8E9ByHs
Information about participating in the forum and AGM as well as instructions for voting, will be provided closer to the date.