Applications sought for boardappointed SFF Coop farmer director

SILVER Fern Farms Cooperative is seeking applications for a newly established boardappointed farmer director.

A review of its constitution earlier this year — following the joint venture with Shanghai Maling — covered governance development, appointed supplier directors and limits on the tenure of directors, as well as farmerelected director eligibility and voting eligibility.

In a statement yesterday, chairman Rob Hewett said the new role opened up a directorship opportunity on the cooperative board that would assist in ensuring ‘‘constructive rejuvenation’’ of its governors.

It would ensure the cooperative had a sound suc cession plan in place to ensure active farmerelected directors were well equipped and gained governance experience.

To be eligible, candidates must be a current shareholder of the cooperative and have supplied a minimum of 400 stock units to Silver Fern Farms for each of the two years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2018. Eligibility also included those with a legal or beneficial interest in a share holder supplier.

The successful applicant would be appointed to the board for a maximum term of three years, after which they would need to make themselves available for election if they wanted

to continue. They could choose to seek election before the term expired.

They would not be eligible to be appointed to the board of directors of Silver Fern Farms Ltd until such time as they had successfully been elected as a farmerelected director of the cooperative. Applications close on December 20.