Katie Milne, seen here with heifers on her farm, is splitting her time between the West Coast and Wellington. Photo / Supplied
Katie Milne has had an ''amazing'' response to becoming the first female national president of Federated Farmers in its 118-year history.
The West Coast dairy farmer was elected to the position vacated by South Canterbury's William Rolleston after a three-year term. She told Central Rural Life she had received ''a
heap of cards from people all up and down the Coast'' since her appointment was announced late last month.
Ms Milne and her partner Ian Whitmore own a farm at Rotomanu, near Lake Brunner, where they milk 200 Jersey cows on a pasture-based system. They rear replacement heifer calves on a separate run-off and operate a contracting business making silage pits, hay and baleage, and spreading dairy effluent.
Ms Milne previously worked at the Kokiri meat works in a raft of roles, including carcass grading, meat inspection, food safety and ISO 9002 accreditation. She has also been a systems auditor, LIC saleswoman and records assistant.
Her involvement with Federated Farmers began in 1991 when, aged 23, she took her concerns about the impact of the Resource Management Act to a provincial meeting.
