A unique tribute to a Taranaki dairy industry leader was announced by Fonterra yesterday.
The John Young Memorial Scholarship will be a $10,000 annual award to a Taranaki tertiary student whose work is focused on sustaining the success of the dairy industry.
The scholarship was announced by Fonterra chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden at the company's annual meeting in Hawera.
The more than 200 people at the meeting stood in silence in remembrance of Mr Young, who died earlier this year. Sir Henry said Mr Young was one of the fathers of Fonterra and a great dairy industry leader.
A firm believer in farmers working together for the common good, he would have wanted to give young talent a step up.
"One of the co-op's priorities is to foster the next generation of dairy leaders and help build the capability among our farmers."
The scholarship would encourage Taranaki's best, brightest, most visionary agricultural students, he said.
Mr Young was a former chairman of Kiwi Dairies, the Taranaki company which merged with the New Zealand Dairy Group and the New Zealand Dairy Board to form Fonterra in 2001.
Yesterday was the second time since Fonterra was formed in 2001 that it has held its annual meeting in Hawera. The last time, seven years ago, CEO Andrew Ferrier had been in the role just 10 days.
Mr Ferrier noted it was now almost 125 years since Chinese entrepreneur Chew Chong established Taranaki's first dairy factory in Eltham. "So it's great we're here all these years later to review yet another year of progress for Fonterra and the Kiwi dairy industry."
Taranaki was a big part of the company, with about 15 per cent of its shareholders and just over 10 per cent of the national dairy herd.
"At peak this equates to about 580 tanker loads per day rolling into Whareroa."
Mr Ferrier acknowledged the contribution of Whareroa hub operations manager Mike Corbett who has just retired after 41 years in the dairy industry.
"It's people like Mike who make Fonterra a force to be reckoned with," he said. Keep our farms: Page 6
- © Fairfax NZ News SUE O'DOWD
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