Accolades in agriculture

Former Federated Farmers president Dr William Rolleston is humbled by his New Year Honour, but says the real recognition needs to go to the thousands of farmers who ‘‘continue to produce the food which feeds us three times a day and sustains our economy’’.

Federation leader from 2014-17, Rolleston has been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

He said that during his tenure farmers had ‘‘started on a journey which will be to the environment what the 1980s reforms were to the economy’’.

Farmers hated being told what to do but ‘‘show them a problem – improving productivity while lowering their environmental footprint – and they will want to fix it’’.

After a career as a general practice doctor, Rolleston co-established the biotechnology company South Pacific Sera (SPS) in 1988, producing blood products used in cell culture and other laboratory applications for export. He also oversees the farming of the 4000-hectare sheep and beef Blue Cliffs station.

In 2011 Rolleston played a pivotal role in the formation of the ‘‘Farmy Army’’ in response to the Christchurch earthquake, and was a volunteer himself.

He was elected vice-president of the World Farmers Organisation in July 2015, appointed acting president from September 2016 until June 2017 and is continuing as a board member.

He was the founding chairman of the Biotechnology Industry Organisation and of the Life Sciences Network, an umbrella organisation which advocates for science-based regulation of genetic modification.

Rolleston will continue to play an active role in science as the chairman of Genomics Aotearoa, based at Otago University.

Waikato dairy farmer Neil Bateup has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to agriculture, especially his championing of rural support trusts.

He was appointed the first chairman of the National Council of Trusts in 2006, having been a founding member of the Waikato-Hauraki-Coromandel Trust.

Bateup said farmers faced multiple stressors, including finances, weather, relationships and burnout, but because of the nature of their work they often lacked the support network that others in the community could count on.

He has been involved with Young Farmers, Waikato Federated Farmers, the Livestock Improvement Association, the New Zealand Co-Op Dairy Company, and the Fonterra Shareholders Council.

After 52 years’ dairy farming, Bateup has only now handed the reins over to a contract milker but he retains an active interest in the business.

‘‘Farming’s been good to me so my leadership roles have been a way of giving back to the community.’’

Former dairy farmer Penny Mudford has been made an Officer of the Order chiefly for her work in dispute resolution, although she has held other leadership roles in the primary sector.

She believed dispute resolution was better valued today than when she first entered the field, and was a helpful process for farmers who became bogged down in problems related to finances and personal relationships.

‘‘Being a farmer, I have been able to bring that background into the role. I’ve also done the training and have learned from very skilled people.’’

In 2000 Mudford became chief executive of the Arbitrators and Mediators Institute of New Zealand, a role she held for seven years. She has since gone into private practice as a dispute resolution practitioner specialising in the resolution of rural disputes, farming contracts, livestock agreements, and farm equity partnerships.

A passion for farming as a young man on the family farm set Southlander Stuart Collie on his career path. He was made an Officer of the Order following a lifetime of service to Federated Farmers and local government.

Collie was vice-chairman and chairman of the arable section of Federated Farmers between 1981 and 1990, vice-president of the federation from 1990 to 1996, and is a former chairman of Environment Southland.

During his time on the United Wheatgrowers electoral committee he was involved with the establishment of the Agrichemical Education Trust and the Grow Safe accreditation system to raise the standards of agricultural chemical use.

Melissa Jebson from Darfield has been awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for services to agriculture and the community.

She has been president of the Central Districts of the Royal Agricultural Society since 2016, is a member of the society’s national executive committee and has been involved with the Malvern Agricultural and Pastoral Show for 25 years, most recently as a health and safety officer.

Jebson is also a judge at national equestrian events including Horse of the Year. She has previously been secretary of the Young Farmers in Christchurch and Mid-Canterbury districts.