Chairman Andrew Morrison, who plans to seek re-election in 2023, said the decision was made to re-establish the role of deputy chair due to an ever-increasing workload in a period of significant change for farmers.
"Kate has an excellent mix of rural expertise and business acumen to support us in achieving our strategic goals and objectives of helping farmers run thriving and profitable farm businesses.
"The sheep and beef sector was facing intense challenges and Beef + Lamb would continue to advocate and work hard on behalf of our farmers for sensible and practical policy settings.”
Mrs Acland holds a bachelor’s degree in viticulture and oenology and a master’s degree in applied science, majoring in farm management consultancy at Lincoln University.
Before moving to her husband David’s family farm, she developed her own vineyard, winery, processing and export business in Marlborough.
The couple have three children and employ 30 staff over a diverse group of businesses, including Mt Somers Station, running 30,000 stock units in a mixture of sheep, beef and deer, as well as an 850-cow dairy unit.
Mt Somers Station includes a stand-alone honey operation with 500ha of native vegetation and beech forest providing ample food for 400 hives that produce manuka, honeydew and clover honeys.
Mrs Acland said she was looking forward to her new role and the challenges ahead.
"I’m enormously passionate about our sector and the people that are a part of it."
She strongly believed Beef + Lamb played a key role in the future success of the sector.
