Fonterra focuses on relationships

Lisa Payne says Fonterra is also investigating the possibility of setting up a mentor programme. Photo / Supplied

Fonterra is reconnecting with Bay of Plenty dairy farmers in a bid to push some senior decision-making out of Auckland.

Seven regions have been identified where the dairy giant wants to improve such relationships.

Bay of Plenty head of co-operative affairs Lisa Payne said the move was part of its Farm Source initiatives. "One of the main goals is to build closer connections through our farmers and communities we operate in."

Raised in the Bay of Plenty, Payne said her life had almost come full circle after moving back to the district in April and she enjoyed interacting on a daily basis with the farmers.

Her previous portfolio included a stint overseas in telecommunications and IT and milk supply positions with Fonterra in Auckland.

But she is relishing her new role and said the dairy industry was full of passionate people despite the tough times some farmers were experiencing.

Last week, she met industry leaders from Federated Farmers, Dairy NZ, Rural Support Trust and Dairy Women's Network to discuss "what is really going on".

"It is making sure we get those words out there to our farmers so they know the support available through those organisations," she said.

Fonterra was also investigating the possibility of setting up a mentor programme in the Bay which would take advantage of people who had farmed through tough times.

"There are farmers out there who have been through the cycles before and know some tactics for dealing with it and how to ride it out. We hope they would like to provide some mentoring to sharemilkers and the younger guys. "

Several had already expressed a willingness to help.

Pie-day Fridays was also proving popular, and was designed to let farmers raise concerns and issues in an informal manner.

Its meeting at Reporoa RD1 attracted a good crowd who ate 120 pies and used the time to talk about Fonterra's support loan and other co-operative initiatives. "The energy was great. At the end of the day we are all in this together."

Fonterra Loan

The co-operative will provide all Fonterra share-backed farmers the opportunity to apply for Fonterra Co-operative Support amounting to an additional 50 cents per shared-up milk solids for production for the season.

This payment, interest free for two years, will be paid back when the Farmgate Milk Price or Advance Rate goes above $6.00 per kg milk solids.

A first payment will be made in October for June to December and will continue until May. Payments will total 50 cents per shared-up milk solids over the season but will be phased from October as transformation savings are delivered.

-Lisa Payne has about 1000 farmers in her area. Her office is in the RD1 store, Rotorua, and she has an open-door policy.