Farmer-shareholders elected Ben Dickie, south Taranaki dairy farmer, and re-elected Dr Alison Watters, Wairarapa dairy farmer and scientist. Both will serve a four-year term.
The LIC Board is made up of seven farmer-elected directors and three independent directors.
Ben Dickie replaces retiring director Steve Poole and will take up his new role on 1 June 2018.
Board Chair Murray King said the appointments provide a balance of freshness and continuity.
“It’s excellent to see the next generation of farmers being represented on the Board with Ben’s appointment. He has been actively enhancing his governance skills over recent years and also brings a strong background in finance.
“I am equally thrilled to see that Alison has retained her position. Alison has proved herself to be a hard-working and diligent director, and brings strengths in unique areas particularly with her science background.”
Ben and his wife Vanessa have three children and milk 1,500 cows on three farms near Waverley in South Taranaki. Prior to becoming a dairy farmer in 2005, Ben was a financial analyst in Sydney specialising in publicly listed mining companies. While working in finance, he completed the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) programme in 2003 and has a BSc (Hons) in Geology and a BCom in Finance from Otago University. Ben is also a Fonterra Shareholders’ Councillor (elected in 2016).
Alison and her husband Andrew milk 600 cows in Wairarapa and have been dairy farming since 1999. Originally appointed to the Board in 2014, Alison has a PhD in animal science and extensive governance experience.
