Succession at governance level was difficult to plan for and it was a common issue in co operatives, Mr Hewett told the company's annual meeting.
Silver Fern Farms was providing an opportunity for self starter candidates to nominate themselves, or to be nominated, to apply to the Burnside Hart Co operative Education Trust for a governance scholarship.
Up to two scholarships would be provided annually, with the opportunity for the successful candidates to take part in the Fonterra governance development programme and develop their experience as an observer on the Silver Fern Farms board.
The voting process for directors was raised at the annual meeting, with retired farmer John Beattie saying he would like the board to look at it.
While he had ''quite a lot of skin'' in the co operative, he, along with others, was not entitled to vote.
Votes in this year's election were received from 1500 eligible voters from a total of 4860 eligible voters.
To become eligible, shareholders had to meet requirements that included supplying a minimum level of stock for processing over the past two seasons.
Mr Hewett said if there was ''enough feeling'', the process could be reviewed. It would require a constitutional change.
Heriot farmer Allan Richardson was concerned that shareholders were ''voting blind'' on who was the best person for the job. He wanted to see a ''report card'' for directors every year; what they were doing, what value they were adding to the team, what their skills were, and their workload through the year.
There was only accountability when director elections were held and he wanted to know every year.
Mr Hewett believed the process was ''pretty robust''. All candidates in director elections were audited against a set of criteria and that information went out to shareholders, along with personal statements.
Money and time was spent to ensure shareholders were given a lot of information to make informed decisions, he said.
Independent director Trevor Burt, who is chairman of the remuneration and appointments committee, said effectiveness evaluations on directors were carried out regularly.
Although it was probably not common practice to share that information, it was something that could be considered.
Mr Hewett was re elected to the board this month, along with new director Fiona Hancox, who replaced Herstall Ulrich.
In his farewell address, Mr Ulrich said his message to the board and shareholders was not to get distracted from the company's consumer focused branded strategy.