Becoming a leader with Feds

Federated Farmers' Bees chair and former board member John Hartnell was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services as a leader in Canterbury's Farmy Army quake recovery team.

Many farmers start off on the pathway to leadership by becoming interested in local issues. Maybe their rates were too high, the local school was looking for help or some bureaucrat came knocking on the door wanting to do something on their land.

Federated Farmers is a funny old organisation: it takes people from a rural setting and attempts to turn them into leaders. Surprisingly, it does this very well.

Many members who have chosen to join Federated Farmers have risen to do good things for their communities and for some, their country.

John Hartnell, chairperson of Federated Farmers' Bees and past Federated Farmers board member, was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services as a leader in Canterbury's Farmy Army earthquake recovery team.

Malcolm Bailey, ex-president of Federated Farmers is a Fonterra board member. Shane Ardern and Damien O'Connor are both MPs and were both active members of Federated Farmers.

Another member, Lockwood Smith (now Sir Lockwood) is New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. These people help populate just the top petal of the tall poppy of New Zealand farmers. There are so many more.

Many farmers start off on the pathway to leadership by becoming interested in local issues. Maybe their rates were too high, the local school was looking for help or some bureaucrat came knocking on the door wanting to do something on their land.

Many join Federated Farmers and go to local meetings so that the issue can be shared and solved. It is here that Federated Farmers can help give them skills.

Agriculture needs skilled farmers to stand up in front of councillors at regional councils, MPs at Select Committees and around tables at meetings including zone committees looking at important topics such as water allocation and quality.

It's the farmer's voice that needs to be heard to get the results that will be a win-win for all.

While all farmers have voices, the ones that carry the most weight come from those who know how to present an argument clearly and without too much emotion getting in the way.

Agriculture also needs farmers who can stand in front of a television camera, aware of all the pitfalls that come with being caught out by that unexpected question, that a helmet needs to be worn if a quad bike is involved, that stock and pasture need to be chosen if they too are to appear on camera.

Federated Farmers teaches all this and more at their leadership courses, which are open to not just farmers but to anyone interested in learning leadership skills.