An election will be held for a farmer director role in the Southern South Island (SSI) electoral district as part of the 2026 Beef + Lamb New Zealand annual meeting process. Nominations and a call for remits closed on Friday 5 December.
Under the requirements of B+LNZ’s Constitution, the two directors retiring by rotation were Eastern North Island’s (ENI) Patrick Crawshaw and SSI’s Geoffrey Young.
Current director Patrick Crawshaw was the only nomination for the ENI electoral district so is re-elected unopposed.
Geoffrey Young advised he will retire from the Board at the time of the annual meeting. Three nominations were received for the SSI district so there will be an election there. The candidates are Simon Davies, Glen McDonald and Matt McRae.
Information about the candidates and voting for the director election will be available for voters in SSI from early February 2026 as part of the annual meeting voting process.
There were no remits received.
One candidate, Shirley Trumper, was nominated for the Director Independent Remuneration Committee, so is elected unopposed.
Voting will open in February when farmers are sent information by mail, although voting will again be conducted online. Voting will close on 12 March 2026.
To be eligible to vote, a livestock farmer must, on 30 June 2025, have owned at least 250 sheep, or 50 beef cattle, or 100 dairy cattle, and be on the B+LNZ electoral roll. Voters must farm within the respective electorate to be eligible to vote for the Board of Directors.
Farmers who have previously received notices of the meeting are on the electoral roll and do not need to re-register. If they want to check they’re on the electoral roll they can contact B+LNZ on 0800 BEEFLAMB (0800 233 352) or [email protected].
Eligible voters who are not already registered can register on B+LNZ’s electoral roll at any time before voting closes.
An election helpline will also be available for questions and further information.
The 2026 B+LNZ Annual Meeting will be held on 17 March in Timaru. Full details will be available soon.
ENDS
For media queries, please contact [email protected]