WORDS AND IMAGES BY ANNIE STUDHOLME
With significant changes underway for the primary sector, outgoing Ruralco chair Jessie Chan is urging farmers to remain adaptable. Her ascent as one of the country’s prominent rural leaders has been marked by her continued capacity to adapt and evolve.
After nine years of distinguished service to Ruralco, first as a director and then as Chair, Jessie has decided it’s the right time to explore other governance roles while spending more time with her family.
With an Honours degree in Animal Science from Massey University and more than 15 years of rural professional experience, Jessie’s governance journey was in its infancy when she initially joined the Board as a director in 2013.
She had previously worked in Wellington as a technical advisor for the Ministry of Agriculture (MAF) doing live animal export and imports, followed by stints with Meat and Wool New Zealand [now Beef & Lamb New Zealand] as a research and development portfolio manager, and as a dairy policy analyst for Federated Farmers. She had also been provincial president of the Wellington Young Farmers’ Club, amongst other roles.
Her relocation to Mid Canterbury coupled with her grassroots experience gave Jessie newfound prospects. Motivated by a yearning to make a difference in rural areas she first completed the Fonterra Governance Development Programme. She later gained further skills through the Food and Agribusiness Marketing Experience, the Professional Development Course for Co- operative Directors, and the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme.
Being elected to the Ruralco Board was a sign of more significant things to come. After six years as a Director, Jessie assumed the helm in 2020. In doing so, she became the country’s first female Chair of a major agribusiness co-operative.
During her tenure, she was awarded the Canterbury Institute of Directors Aspiring Director Award in 2014, crowned Dairy Woman of the Year in 2017, Most Inspiring Leader at last year’s Women in Governance Awards and made the New Year’s Honours list as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to dairy and agriculture.
Alongside Ruralco, she has also served as a Fonterra Shareholders’ Councillor, on the Board of Federated Farmers Mid Canterbury, Business Mid Canterbury, Connetics Limited, Ngai Tahu Farming Ltd, Alpine Energy Ltd, and as an associate director of Dairy NZ.
Jessie was also fortunate to attend the week- long Te Hono Stanford Bootcamp at Stanford University in California, looking at the primary sector’s future along with 70 other major players in the primary sector. An experience she describes as invaluable in terms of understanding the primary sector and looking at it with a new perspective.
“You never stop learning,” says Jessie. “All these experiences have helped me contribute to the business’s future strategy. Being on Alpine Energy and Ngai Tahu Farming Limited’s boards taught me different things. I brought that experience of these larger boards in terms of risk, strategy, compliance, and people.”
From a business point of view, Jessie witnessed many changes during her time on the Board. Her first three years were dominated by ATS’s withdrawal from the joint venture with Ravensdown, buying back their shareholding, followed by the total business rebrand to Ruralco. “That was a big deal for us. We had to think of the impacts of what that meant to shareholders. There was also some new thinking about the next generation’s expectations,” she says.
Increasing board diversity continued to be a primary focus during her second term with the appointment of a second independent director. “It’s not just about how people look; diversity comes in all shapes and forms,” Jessie says.
“Bringing in independent directors helps to bring in skillsets and strengths that we might not have around the Board. I have been impressed with the talent coming through the Board. We have some great talent in Mid Canterbury, but this is not a training ground for newbies. We are a high-performing team. Everyone is great in their own right. That translates down to our people as well. People want to join us. We are a family; we look after each other, but we know how to get stuff done.”
Since becoming Chair, Jessie has been leading the development of Ruralco’s financial platform to allow a new way of transactions to be rolled out from this month (December). Not only will it ensure Ruralco complies with Government legislation, but it will open new opportunities for the co-operative, including being able to offer cardholders revolving credit.
“We know there are certain times of the year when farmers have a cashflow pinch. This [revolving credit] will make it easier for them to do business without having to go to the bank. They’ll be able to buy their products on us, and roll over their account until the following month,” she says.
They have also rewritten the constitution, putting practices in place at Board level to add further clarity.
Highlights have been winning awards for leading the way in health and safety and as a gender-diverse organisation. “But it’s not just about getting awards. It’s about doing what you say you will,” says Jessie.
In the end, she says that as shareholders, “you will be able to tell whether or not I’ve done a successful job as Chair based on where the company is in the next five years”.
“What we are seeing now is what the Board has been working on for the past 12 months. There is a lag between all the activities and what plays out in three, five or 10 years. It’s about future thinking. It’s long-term, and that’s the way it should be. We wouldn’t be doing our job properly if we were reacting to things every day as a board.”
Much has happened in the past nine years, not just at Ruralco but also in the primary sector.
“We’ve had a lot of challenges thrown at us,” says Jessie. From $3.90 milk prices, grim arable returns, and rollercoaster prices for lamb, we’ve also had to deal with localised weather events and the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has taught us that you never know what’s going to happen. “You can’t possibly account for every risk; you just have to be able to adapt.” She put Ruralco’s success during the pandemic down to loyal shareholders and a strong balance sheet. Despite the obvious challenges, there was a real willingness on the part of the Board, staff, and shareholders to roll up their sleeves and work together to get the job done. Many efficiencies and positives have come out of it.
Now, more than ever, it’s shown the value of the co-operative. “Farmers don’t want us to meddle in their businesses. They want good value for money and a partner they can trust. While the offering hasn’t changed, at our heart, we are still a farm supplies store. We have grown on that with our gift and homeware range, groceries, fuel, and energy, and in future the way we transact. Fundamentally, the reason it (Ruralco) got together almost 60 years ago hasn’t changed, but we must keep improving on that.”
While growth is a key part of improving the business’s resilience, it’s not about “growth for growth’s sake”. “It’s not just about being big,” says Jessie. “We always have our core shareholders in mind, and we won’t do anything detrimental to them. We will only do it if it makes sense, adds value, grows shareholder wealth, and reduces risk.”
Though farmers’ morale has been hit lately, with continued misinformation fueling negative perceptions of farmers around the environment and animal welfare issues, Jessie firmly believes the future remains bright for food and fibre production. “Farmers need to hold their heads up high; people are always going to need to eat,” she says.
“We must find ways to change the story because we have a good story to tell. It’s not every person for themselves; we need to stick together and be unified in what we do. We need to tell a story that resonates with people, and we need to get the people in town to see we are human too, not pitchfork-welding villains just there to make money.
Contrary to what many think, farming is about continuous improvement and outcomes for the environment, animals, and people, she says. “Farming communities are diverse in their make-up and farming practices; they are thriving in a good way, and we need to start telling those stories.”
At this year’s Instore Days, Ruralco launched the “Farmers. We’ve Got Your Back” campaign to recognise and appreciate farmers’ contribution and promote what they do to the general population. It’s Ruralco’s way of showing our shareholders that we are all in this together, says Jessie.
“There is a story to tell around the whole country and Ruralco wants to inspire the industry to share that story. We share the same ideals and understand our shareholders’ expectations of us as a co-operative—that we are their business. As such, we support them.”
She says the real danger is that weighty compliance, red tape and feeling vilified can drive the next generation away from farming, just as we had in the 1980s. The campaign is about changing the perceptions and sharing the positives, so farming gets the kudos it deserves. It’s envisaged to run for at least a year to build momentum but probably longer as suppliers and industry players come on board. It’s hoped that by providing awareness and momentum, the campaign will grow its own legs in the future.
At the end of the day, though, she is confident farming will always find a way. “It just takes people with bravery and determination. We might need to tweak our systems, but we will get there. Some of the brightest young minds coming through are working in the fields of research and development and innovation. It’s about how can we do this smarter, and how we apply that in a meaningful way on farm.”
Jessie says the key is to keep learning and growing in ways that sustain our businesses and our rural communities. The two are intrinsically linked, and one cannot survive without the other.
Now that her tenure at Ruralco is ending, Jessie is looking forward to balancing family life, spending more quality time with her two growing boys, Adam (9) and Noah (4), and enjoying their new life in Rakaia.
At the end of May, Jessie ceased actively farming following her divorce from business partner Hayden Dorman. Together, the couple had worked their way up from lower- order sharemilkers to buying their own herd. Then, two years later, they were offered the opportunity to lease, farming 420-hectares at Dorie, milking 920 cows, having halved it in numbers as they moved to a self-contained system, improving their own operational efficiencies, and significantly lessening their farming footprint.
From the beginning of her governance career, Jessie’s made careful choices regarding what roles she has taken. Nothing has been done by accident; they have all been deliberate. “It’s values-driven,” she explains. “They are all important to me for various reasons. I must think, does it align with my values? I want to be able to contribute to the organisation, add value and make a difference.”
It rings true in her most recent appointment as an independent director for NZ Pork. “The pork industry and pig farmers have a lot of challenges on their plate about regulations and the growing wave of imported pork produced using practices that are illegal in this country. I’m keen to be part of the solution, raising the profile of our wonderful New Zealand pork products both here and overseas,” she says.
Though small, Jessie says the New Zealand pork sector is proud and overall has a solid animal welfare record. It’s essential to ensure the industry can thrive and that pig farmers continue to provide nutritious, high-quality New Zealand-born and raised pork farmed to high welfare standards.
As well as NZ Pork, Jessie remains a Trustee of Meat the Need, which distributes farmer- donated meat to food banks, and is on the board of the mātauranga Māori-focussed, Bioprotection Aotearoa.