FMG AGM 2024
FMG’s 119th Annual General Meeting was held in Wairarapa on Friday, 23 August.
Sarah von Dadelszen | Board Chair
Sarah has spent the last 22 years in a variety of agricultural and energy related governance and leadership roles. These positions have been with organisations that are committed to maintaining strong communities, particularly in the rural sector. These include the New Zealand Beef Council, Fonterra Shareholders Council, and New Zealand Young Farmers. Currently, Sarah sits on the Ballance Agri-Nutrients Board and Centralines Ltd. Sarah also owns farming businesses with sheep and beef, and dairy interests.
Sinead Horgan
Sinead trained as a Chartered Accountant and has over 20 years’ consulting and financial services experience. Sinead has held senior roles in strategy, M&A/private equity and commercial banking across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Aotearoa/ New Zealand. Sinead is a non-executive director as well as chair of audit and risk on several businesses including Leighs Construction, Fuse It , TDX, and Tait Communications. She is also a trustee of the Māia Health Foundation and Assistance Dogs NZ Trust.
Sarah Smith
Sarah is a Financial Services professional with over 30 years’ experience, 15 of which have been in senior roles within the Insurance Sector and Technology. She has extensive experience in business development, information technology, digital transformation, strategic development, project governance and risk management. She also has a strong working knowledge of the regulatory requirements for Insurance companies. Sarah is currently a Director of Partners Life Ltd and Metis Consulting Ltd.
Murray Taggart
Murray and his family farm arable crops near Oxford in North Canterbury, following his early career with ANZ Bank. He was a Nuffield Scholar in 1996 and was awarded the Tasman Region FMG Rural Excellence Award in 2006. Murray has been heavily involved across the primary sector with past roles as National Meat and Fibre Chair of Federated Farmers and as a director of number of companies across the rural sector, including Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd and CRT Society Ltd. Currently he chairs Alliance Group Ltd and Taumata Plantations Ltd.
Simon Hopcroft
Simon runs a dairy farming operation in Southland, is a former Fonterra Cooperative Councillor and was winner of the 2004 Young Farmer of the Year contest. Simon has completed various governance and leadership courses including Fonterra’s ‘Governance Development Programme’ and Farmlands ‘To the Core’ programme. He has also been a trustee on the Southland Rural Support Trust for the past six years. Through Simon’s farming experience, he understands the current risks and challenges facing many businesses and rural communities.
Nicola Shadbolt
Nicola is Chair of Plant & Food Crown Research Institute and serves on the Executive Committee and the Board of the International Food & Agribusiness Association and the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre Ltd. She is a voluntary appointed board member on Cooperative Business New Zealand, was an elected member of the Fonterra Board for nine years and served as a Climate Change Commissioner for three years. Nicola is a Professor of Farm and Agribusiness Management at Massey University and managing director of three farming and forestry equity partnerships based in the Manawatu. She was made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to agribusiness in 2018.
Bruce Wills
Bruce brings a deep knowledge and awareness of primary sector issues and strong linkages right across this sector.
Bruce was born and raised on a sheep and cattle farm near Napier. He completed a B. Com (Ag) at Lincoln University and then spent 20 years in banking and investment and financial.
In 2004 Bruce returned to Napier and entered a farming business with family. He joined Federated Farmers in 2006, becoming Meat & Fibre Chairman in 2008 then National President from 2011 to 2014 and continues to be involved in a range of Governance roles, largely across the primary sector.
Previous roles include Chair of the QEII National Trust, Apiculture NZ, Primary ITO, Motu and the NZ Poplar & Willow Research Trust. Bruce has been a Director of Horticulture NZ, several National Science challenges, Todd Foundation and others. Bruce is currently Chair Ravensdown and three MPI SFFF projects involving salmon farming, a biotech start up and a vertical farming venture.
Jim Lee
Jim has the experience of a 35-year career in agribusiness spanning farming, banking and for the last 20 years, leadership of a large-scale farming business.
He is comfortable at every level of the rural sector – from his Banks Peninsula farm to the farms, orchards and vineyards he manages at FarmRight, through to working with Executives and Directors of suppliers, processors, financiers and regulators across the rural sector.
Jim brings a strong strategic and commercial acumen gained through his time leading farming, investment and finance businesses. His rural finance experience, culminated in his appointment to the role of National Manager Agribusiness for Westpac.
Jim is Chief Executive of FarmRight and has led the growth of the business from three farms to the current 59 in New Zealand ($1.1billion assets), and established a subsidiary Australian business ($250 million assets).
Jim has B. Com Agriculture (Valuation and Farm Management) from Lincoln University and a Post Graduate Diploma of Banking from Massey University.
