Honours Several leaders in agriculture feature in the New Year Honours list

Honours for ag contributors

By Sonita Chandar

The agriculture sector has been honoured, with several recipients being named in the New Year’s Honours list.

Rakaia dairy farmer Jessie Chan was named as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to dairy and agriculture. She has been contributing to the dairy and agricultural industry through her management and governance roles for 20 years.

“While I am very grateful to be acknowledged, it feels surreal, as I know there are so many deserving people in the industry that have put in decades of hard mahi,” Chan says.

“I would like to dedicate the award to my father who passed away last year. He was a pivotal influence in my life and laid the foundations for everything I have learnt so far.”

Chan was the first provincial president of the Wellington Young Farmers’ Club, served on the Federated Farmers Dairy Section National Executive and was vice president and chairperson of the Dairy Section of Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers. She has been a Fonterra Shareholders’ Councillor, an associate director of DairyNZ and on the Land Use Futures board. She is also a member of NZ Asian Leaders and Super Diverse Women. In 2017 she was awarded Fonterra’s Dairy Woman of the Year, and is a current director of Ngāi Tahu Farming Limited, Alpine Energy Limited and Bioprotection Aotearoa.

Well-known and respected in agrimedia circles is Sue Miller from Wellington, who became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her 40 years of service to agricultural journalism.

Miller became Greymouth Evening Star’s first female journalist in 1971 and went on to work with the Bay of Plenty Times and Northern Advocate before moving to Wellington in 1977.

She held several press and public affairs roles before beginning her involvement with the NZ Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators (NZGAJC). She was national secretary and awards administrator of NZGAJC from 2003 until her retirement in 2020. She carried out the guild’s administration, liaised with the National Executive, managed events, produced a newsletter and maintained relationships with sponsors. Her key contribution was the development of the guild’s journalism awards, presented annually.

Miller also organised conferences for the guild’s 50th and 60th anniversaries and spearheaded the guild’s hosting of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) World Congress in 2015, which attracted 150 journalists from 30 countries.

Other recipients include Dr Michael William Dunbier of Ilam, made Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to agricultural science. He has been a leading figure in plant breeding and agricultural science in NZ. Past roles include director of DSIR Crop Research, chief executive of the NZ Institute for Crop and Food Research Ltd.

Dr Peter Francis Fennessy of Roslyn received the Officer of the NZ Order of Merit for services to agricultural science and business. He has had a broad and distinguished career as a scientist, mentor, consultant and entrepreneur over 45 years, with a key focus on bridging science and business in the NZ agricultural and biotechnology sectors, to provide better outcomes for the public, enterprise and the environment.

Dianne Mary Milne of Dobson was made Officer of the NZ Order of Merit for services to the rural community.

Milne has made significant contributions to the West Coast rural community since 1981 and has been a pioneer for women in the rural community, as the first woman to be elected as chairperson of Rotomanu Federated Farmers, chairperson of Provincial Meat and Wool, provincial president of the West Coast Federated Farmers, chairperson of Rural Support Trust and director of Phoenix Meat Company Limited. She was also a member of the West Coast Regional Animal Health Committee, where she mentored farmers impacted by bovine tuberculosis.

Ian McKenzie Jordan, of Blenheim, was honoured as Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to the livestock industry. He has contributed to sheep and cattle breeding in Marlborough, nationally and internationally.

While Shane Patrick McManaway, of Carterton, was honoured as Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to agriculture and the communitY. He has been regarded as a leader in NZ’s agricultural industry for more than 30 years.

He formed and has been chairperson of Platinum Primary Producers Group (PPP) since 2005, a collective of 120 primary producers across Australasia and Asia. He also founded the Zanda McDonald Award in 2015, to recognise young people in primary industry sectors and support their career development with access to the expertise of PPP members. n

Rakaia farmer Jessie Chan has been named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to dairy and agriculture.