By PHILIPPA STEVENSON agriculture editor
A dozen farmers are vying for three Fonterra board seats in the dairy mega co-op's second election.
The three directors - Marise James, Harry Bayliss and Richard Booth - retiring by rotation from the 13-member board are seeking re-election.
They are among the biggest field to contest the
nine-farmer, four-independent member board after last year's election drew eight candidates.
Two hopefuls - former Federated Farmers' president and special agricultural trade envoy Malcolm Bailey and Horizon Energy chairman and ex-Bay Milk director Colin Holmes - are making their second bid for Fonterra seats.
The 13,000 shareholders voting in the postal election running from April 28 to May 23 will also choose among former New Zealand Dairy Group director Hilary Webber, former Fonterra Shareholders Council chairman John Wilson and Wool Board director Kingi Smiler, chairman of the Wairarapa Moana Incorporation.
The other four candidates are Shareholders Council deputy chairman Graeme Edwards; former Sydney-based Westpac global foreign exchange risk head Stuart Nattrass, now a Christchurch director of Dairy Farm Holdings and Wool Services International; Les Keeper, Queenstown; and Maurice Hardie, Papamoa.
