He acknowledged the role wouldn’t be easy, with farmers facing “some big challenges ahead” such as changing regulations, rising on-farm costs, high-interest rates and “profit squeeze putting pressure on farming families”.
However, he remained optimistic about the future.
“There’s no denying that times are tough, but we can’t let fear, negativity or frustration divide us at the very moment we should be coming together to find pragmatic solutions that will work for farmers and rural communities.”
Langford said Federated Farmers had an important role to play in finding a way forward, through strong and trusting relationships and credible farmer representation that was well-connected at the grassroots level.
Langford’s vice-president is Colin Hurst, an experienced South Canterbury mixed arable farmer and a former director for the Foundation for Arable Research.
Hurst said the organisation was “in great health”, with a huge turnout at its annual general meeting this week.
“Certainly the largest I’ve seen in all my years with Feds, and the day was full of really positive discussion.”
Listen to Jamie Mackay interview Wayne Langford on The Country below:
Hurst was excited about the direction the organisation was heading under Langford’s leadership.
“I think we’ve got the right mix of people sitting around the table to set the organisation up for success.
“Although it can feel tough at times, farmers need to stay positive and keep working toward practical solutions to the challenges we’re facing.”
New Zealand farming had a really bright future ahead of it, Hurst said.
“We have some amazing young leaders coming up through our ranks at Federated Farmers.
“We just need to stick together and keep talking through the tough stuff.”
Sandra Faulkner, Mark Hooper, Toby Williams and Richard McIntyre were all re-elected to the Federated Farmers Board.
North Canterbury arable farmer David Birkett joins the board as arable chairman.
