Last week, Alliance Group confirmed Mr Monaghan's nomination in its supplier representative director election had been rejected, as he failed to meet criteria set out in the company's constitution.
Now, two Alliance Group shareholders, Mark Patterson, from Lawrence, and Dr Mandy Bell, from Wanaka, have put forward a resolution to the co-operative's annual meeting in Dannevirke in December, asking the board to appoint him to replace recently retired independent director Owen Poole.
Alliance Group chairman Murray Taggart said, during recent supplier/shareholder meetings, that a process was under way to appoint another independent director to replace Mr Poole.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Patterson said the rejection of Mr Monaghan's nomination was disappointing for many shareholders.
Alliance Group said Mr Monaghan, who lives at Eketahuna, did not meet one of the criteria in the company's constitution, which was that a director, or a person nominated as a director, must directly or indirectly have a beneficial ownership interest in ordinary nominal value shares in the company of a nominal amount of not less than $5000, and the board of directors had to adhere to the constitution.
Mr Patterson said someone of Mr Monaghan's calibre was wanted around Alliance Group's board table. As well as being a Fonterra director, he was also a former chairman of the Fonterra Shareholders Council.
Importantly, for both Alliance Group and the red meat industry in general, he was involved with the creation of Fonterra.
People like him might be the ''circuit-breaker'' for what appeared to be an impasse that had developed. Nothing had come out of industry talks and perhaps it was time for new thinking and new people involved, Mr Patterson said.
The appointment of independent directors was at the board's discretion but part of being a co-operative was that shareholders got to have their say.
If an ''overwhelming message'' could be sent, then he hoped the board would not turn the opportunity down, he said.
The number of sheep flocks continued to shrink and it was about getting on a footing to start to grow the industry again.
He believed the opportunities were as good as there had been in his farming career ''but we haven't got the structure in place to be able to deliver that''.
Farmer shareholders were the ones that owned the company and change was more in their hands than they ''actually believe'', he said.
Meat Industry Excellence chairman John McCarthy, who strongly criticised Alliance Group for rejecting Mr Monaghan's nomination, while also acknowledging the board's decision was technically and constitutionally correct, said the group had since received ''strong feedback'' from sheep and beef farmers.
''A great many farmers expressed their disappointment when this occurred,'' he said.
A shareholders' resolution was an appropriate way to put forward the idea of inviting Mr Monaghan on to the board.
''Alliance is a co-operative owned by its farmers. It's quite appropriate for shareholders to make suggestions such as this,'' Mr McCarthy said.
A director profile on Fonterra's website said Mr Monaghan was elected to the dairy co-operative's board in 2008. He is also a director of CentrePort Ltd and CentrePort Properties Ltd and has farming interests in Wairarapa and Canterbury.
When contacted, Alliance Group's company secretary Danny Hailes confirmed the company had received a proposal for a shareholders' resolution from Mr Patterson.
The company's constitution stated there should be not more than 10 directors of the company, of which no fewer than six directors, nor more than eight, should be elected.
Provided the total number of directors did not at any time exceed 10, the board might ''from time to time'' appoint, ''on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit, up to four persons as directors, who, in the opinion of the board are capable of rendering special services in relation to the affairs of the company'', The company's other independent directors are John Waller and Graeme Milne.
