He and wife Wendy are part of the family-owned successful Blackdale Stud, a 328ha sheep stud with 5000 fully recorded stock units, including Coopworths, straight Texels, Suftex, Texel-Coopworths and Textras. Mr Black has decided to resign from the BLNZ directorship when his second current three-year term ends in March next year.
''I am generally away seven to 10 days a month and it is pretty hard for Wendy. She has the farm to run and five kids to organise. I want to thank her for holding the fort.''
The couple have four children: Jessica (16), Daniel (14), Olivia (11) and Maggie (6) as well as Hannes, a 17-year-old exchange student from Germany whom he considers his fifth child.
''Also, seeking out new clients [for the stud] has been on the back burner.''
He said once he had completed his term, new blood would be required to take his place and he would be available to offer advice on key activities in the industry.
''I used to ring [former BLNZ director] Jeff Grant for the first year or two.
''It has been a privilege and a challenge to be the representative for the southern South Island.
''The job comes with long hours and frustrations, and you make personal sacrifices, and I am well over early plane rides, but it is a job that needs doing. But I get to engage with a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life.
''It certainly helps with my knowledge and understanding of the wider industry.''
He said he had worked with a dedicated team from BLNZ from around the country, all of whom had a passion for the sheep and beef industry.
He will also relinquish his positions on the boards of Ovita, the New Zealand Meat Board, the Tri-lamb group, and the Pasture Greenhouse Gas Consortium, and, once that happens, he might ''take a breather''.
He is also on the Aparima High School board of trustees and was a director of AgITO until last year before its change to PrimaryITO. Meat and wool advocacy, education, investment, on-farm improvement, and line procurement have been key focuses for Mr Black.
He said farmers were grumpy and frustrated at the volatility of returns, no stability of prices, and the need for improved lines of procurement.
''Unfortunately, we have got quite a divergence in meat and wool marketing systems.
''There are lots of different ownerships with different priorities.
''My view [is] that we shouldn't have to legislate to develop good market structures, except where there are obvious failures in the system.''
While dairy farmers know what price they will receive for their product, which allows them to plan, sheep farmers have no idea what price they will get, making it harder to budget, and harder for banks to back them.
One of the more exciting developments in the industry under way at the moment is BLNZ's proposed merger of Ovita, Sheep Improvement Ltd (SIL), and the Central Progeny Test (CPT) into Beef and Lamb Genetics. The merger is to lift the profitability of New Zealand's sheep and beef farms, through enhancement of genetic evaluation services and tools, plus faster genetic gain and increased profits.
''The accumulated lift in profitability through genetics. It's a no-brainer,'' he said.
Funding is coming from the Government, industry investors and BLNZ levies, which means levy payers are likely to be voting on the proposal later in the year.
One of the things he is most proud of that was his involvement with the BLNZ's Farmer Council, which has six regional divisions and provides leadership at local and regional levels to improve profitability and sustainability of the sheep and beef farming industry.
He would like to see a continued emphasis on best practice, profitability, partnership investment, price stability and line procurement and some form of co-ordinated market behaviour, all of which are designed to add value to the industry.