King Country sheep and beef farmer Martin Coup has been elected to represent the Northern North Island region as a farmer Director, replacing former chairman James Parsons who will stand down at the organisation’s Annual Meeting on 22 March. Martin won 5,392 votes.
The position was contested by Murray Jagger from Whangarei (2,210 votes) and Ross Wallis from Raglan (1,128 votes).
The voting return percentage was 16.91 per cent. This represents 19 per cent of sheep, 18 per cent of cattle and 12 per cent of dairy livestock numbers in the region.
Martin Coup and his wife Wendy farm a 700 ha sheep and beef farm at Aria. He is a farmer representative on the Red Meat Profit Partnership Advisory Group and Mid-Northern Farmer Council. He was national chairman of the B+LNZ Farmer Council for three years and chaired the organisation’s Innovation Farm Advisory Group. He also served a three-year term as a Director on the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand.
Martin is a Kellogg Rural Leadership graduate and has completed the Institute of Directors Strategy, Finance and Governance Essentials programme.
Central Canterbury farmer Kate Acland has been appointed Associate Director, replacing Marton farmer, Andrew Stewart. The Associate Director role is a one-year term.
Kate holds a Bachelor’s degree in Viticulture and Oenology and a Master’s Degree in Applied Science majoring in Farm Management Consultancy from Lincoln University.
Along with her husband David, Kate runs a highly diversified group of businesses employing 25 staff.
She developed her own vineyard, winery, processing and export business in Marlborough before moving to her husband’s family farm, Mt Somers Station; a large-scale foothills property in Mid Canterbury running 30,000 stock units in a mixture of sheep, beef, deer, a 850-cow dairy unit and a honey operation.
For more information, please contact, Beef + Lamb New Zealand Chief Returning Officer, Warwick Lampp, on 0800 666 030 or Beef + Lamb New Zealand General Manager of Communications and Engagement, Rowena Hume, on 027 224 4535.
