With an eye to the future, all good farmers have a succession plan – and that’s also the case with North Canterbury Federated Farmers.

Karl Dean’s election as national dairy chair at the Federated Farmers AGM last week sees Bex Green step up as North Canterbury’s president.

“Dairy farming is my passion, but I’m really excited that as president I’ll get to broaden my horizons and come to grips with the issues in meat, wool and arable as well,” Green says.

“In many respects, farmers are farmers no matter what we produce. Many of the issues, challenges or opportunities we have in front of us are shared.”

Green, who contract milks 1000 cows with her husband Blair in Culverden, was the province’s vice president under Caroline Amyes.

When Amyes stepped down in 2022, Green’s third child was still a toddler, so Dean took over as president. Green stayed on as vice president and took on the province’s dairy chair role.

“I have been waiting in the wings and learning the ropes from Karl and Caroline for a while, so naturally this was planned,” she says.

“It’s another step in my leadership journey, and I’ve been planning it for the last four years being vice president under Caroline and Karl.”

“It’s been a natural progression for me, and something I have had my sights on for a while, but one I haven’t been ready for until now, with kids being young.”

Now her three children, age twelve, ten and six are becoming more independent, Green is ready to step up her leadership journey.

“I’m super excited,” she says.

“The dairy side I have a handle on; it’s the meat and wool I am really excited to get a grip on and get to know better.”

Green has also just been elected national dairy vice chair – the role Dean has just vacated.

She says that while some things will change, much remains familiar.

“I’ve been part of the National Dairy Executive for the past year, so in terms of that, nothing much will change.”

“I’ll put down my intentions for the national role at some point, whether that be in three years or six years, depending on how long Karl wants to do it, and if anyone else comes on board that’s really passionate.”

Now that she is finally provincial president, Green is looking forward to getting her feet on the ground and getting to grips with the role.

“I’ll be focusing on establishing my own leadership style and getting the feel of my executive and what they want and expect from me.”

Green also wants to get a better understanding of regional policy.

“My next priority will be understanding policy, finding my feet and getting to know the policy team.”

“From there, I will spend six-12 months planting my voice and making sure I’m representing everyone well.”

Green was named Federated Farmers 2024 Dairy Advocate of the Year for her leadership on issues such as a streamlined path to work in the dairy sector for immigrants.

She says engagement and communication with farmers is important for Federated Farmers.

“I feel that while we represent our farmers really well both regionally and nationally, they don’t always know how much we do.”

Green says the Save our Sheep campaign is a good way for the organisation to highlight the work they do which often happens behind the scenes.

“It’s about engaging with our farmers, not necessarily through events – we already have enough of those – but by sharing our knowledge and information about what we are doing in a better way.”

Green encourages other women who are passionate about the industry to step into leadership roles even if it feels outside of their comfort zone or in a male dominated organisation.

“I was really nervous when I stepped into the Feds role.”

“I had come from Dairy Women’s Network which is a women-led organisation that empowers women and Feds was so male dominated.

“But instead, I found this awesome community of like-minded people who are just as passionate about advocating for the ag industry as I am.

“Even though we are sometimes not the ones farming full-time, we still have a voice.”

By Claire Inkson