"Regardless of the fantastic job done in positioning merino, excessive charges, exorbitant salary bonuses and the killer, 17% of the company taken from growers, has left growers frustrated,'' he wrote.
The company was single-mindedly focused on delivering a dividend on shares and he questioned who the main beneficiary of that policy was.
"I suggest the majority of growers would much prefer reduced charges and a company singularly focused on merino. A 50% reduction in charges will deliver a far greater return than any share dividend.''
While a dynamic, energised chief executive with flair was needed - "which is what we have'' - a chairman and board were also needed that could keep the company direction aligned with growers' aspirations.
"It is my opinion that this has been lost in latter years and it is very disappointing to see the CEO enriching himself with little observable control, at the expense of those growers who are supporting him.
`It is this that will ultimately see the company fail, unless shareholders collectively do something about it,'' Mr Small said.
Mr Small did not attend the annual meeting, which was not open to the media. Addressing growers before the meeting, NZM director Ross Ivey said he wanted to address "murmurings'' about staff shareholding.
Mr Ivey, who chairs the remuneration committee, outlined the history of the staff share scheme.
The 17% size of the staff shareholding was determined by a credible independent valuation, he said.
Staff were the company's most important asset and he had confidence in the integrity of the process, which was "entirely appropriate'' to retain quality people.
When asked for a response to Mr Small's comments, Ms Richardson provided a letter sent from NZM to him.
In it, she said it had been a "highly successful'' week for the company with constructive engagement and exchanges in Omarama. Most at the meetings were "embarrassed'' by the tone and content of Mr Small's letter.
When NZM became a commercial company in 2001, it was agreed it was appropriate for chief executive John Brakenridge to have a shareholding "to ensure alignment between his and shareholders' drivers''.
A notional shareholding was agreed as the correct mechanism, which was unanimously supported by the board of which Mr Small was a director.
When Merino Grower Investments Ltd (MGIL) later purchased PGG Wrightson's shares in the business, MGIL proposed Mr Brakenridge's notional equity, as well as the profit share schemes that had been agreed with other senior managers, be converted to real equity.
An independent valuation was obtained on what the appropriate percentage shareholding should be and it was agreed Mr Brakenridge would hold 12% of the shares and senior management, including Mr Brakenridge, would hold 17% of the shares in NZM in consideration for the cancellation of the existing notional equity/profit share schemes.
That position was unanimously supported by the MGIL board of which Mr Small was a director, Ms Richardson said.
All shareholders were treated on the same basis and, therefore when a dividend was earned, it was paid to all shareholders.
When NZM became a commercial company in 2001, its market share in merino was about 65%. At present it estimated market share to be about 73%, she said.
NZM's constitution said the company's overriding objective was to maximise its value and the value of its shares, while returning an appropriate dividend return to its shareholders, and to promote profitability and sustainability among growers.
Directors and management were "wholly focused'' on advancing both objectives, Ms Richardson said.
