Alliance Group's farmer-director election is set to be interesting with another candidate coming forward.
Yesterday, Southland sheep and beef farmer Russell Drummond said the co-operative had ''lost its way'' and needed to be more accountable to its shareholders.
Two directors retire by rotation this year - John Lindsay, of Dipton, who has been granted a waiver to stand for a fifth term, and Dawn Sangster, of Ranfurly, who is entitled to stand for re-election as of right. Wanaka vet and farmer Mandy Bell also confirmed her nomination this week.
Mr Drummond respected the incumbent directors standing by rotation but felt ''they've had their chance to make a difference''.
''The fact that nothing significant has been done to address the strategic issues keeping returns to farmers far too low suggests it might be worth letting others have a go.
''I'll be there to get stuck in. People who know me know I'm all about the result and farmers need better results from their co-op,'' he said.
Possibly the most important thing was rebuilding trust between the co-operative and farmer suppliers.
Mr Drummond believed a lack of strategic vision at Alliance Group also left it vulnerable.
The target should be a co-operative with 70% to 80% of New Zealand lamb supply.
That way it could capitalise on being the world's ''number one'' lamb exporter, in the way Fonterra and Zespri leveraged their market positions.
Along with seeking improved returns to farmers, he also wanted to see Alliance Group's governance improved, to lift performance, to put it in a position to lead industry rationalisation and consolidation, committed supply and improved export marketing.
That would all be underpinned by improving shareholder accountability, fair and better treatment for suppliers, with loyalty needed to ''go both ways'', and prioritising a long-term strategic vision for the co-operative, he said.
Mr Drummond and his wife Janeen have three farms, comprising a total of 22,000 stock units.
All are breeding and fattening operations.
