Our Trustees.

Brendon Cross brings extensive farm experience to the Board table. He has a sheep and beef farm on the Otago Peninsula which he is sixth generation to farm.

Brendon’s vision is for farm sustainability. He would like to see a future in farming where the land and animals are well cared for and protected, whilst making farming a profitable business for future generations.

Brendon has strong values pertaining to land protection, his aim is to ensure his farm can afford to put money back into projects involved with this.

Brendon won the BFEA Otago Regional Supreme Award in 2016. He has continued his involvement with the Trust through his involvement with regional judging since 2017. In addition to this he has been the Chair of the Otago BFEA Committee for the last three years.

In 2009 he was a founding Trustee of the Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Trust, a group set up working towards a pest free peninsula.

With a communications background and a firm belief in the Trust’s work, Kate Taylor brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to the Board.

Kate is a passionate supporter of rural New Zealand, fitting perfectly with the Trust’s mission to champion Aotearoa’s best farmers and growers.

In 2020, Kate stepped down from the East Coast BFEA regional committee after 10 years of service. Her governance journey has included positions within sporting and community organisations, and Young Farmers. She’s a Kellogg Rural Scholar, former Consumers Power Trust elected trustee and current district councillor.

Professionally, Kate is a rural journalist who has a deep rural network spanning both the North and South islands.

Warwick has been part of the Ballance Farm Environment Awards national judging team since its inception in 2011 and brings a wealth of industry experience to the Board table.

He started working for Ballance Agri-Nutrients in 1989, starting as technical sales representative before moving to head office in Tauranga to manage science and agronomic matters.

A regular speaker at rural media events and field days, Warwick has been instrumental in the development of fertiliser industry policy for more almost 25 years. This includes the establishment of Fertmark, Spreadmark and the Fertiliser Code of Practice, and the development of Overseer.

His farming sector involvement includes a stint as President of New Zealand Grasslands Association, winning the New Zealand Young Farmer of the Year award, becoming a Commonwealth Scholar in 1998 and chairing the Southern Region Beef Council.

Warwick is a board member of FertResearch and co-chairs its technical committee. With a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours) from Lincoln University, he has co-authored numerous scientific papers on fertiliser-related topics.

As a long-term North Island dairy farmer and potato grower, Terry has first-hand
experience of the environmental challenges facing today’s New Zealand farmers and growers.

He believes these challenges are enormous for all primary producers, and have the potential to significantly change the face of vegetable growing at a local level.

Terry brings this insider’s perspective to the Trust Board table, following a long involvement with the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA) – first as an entrant and then as a member and Chair of the Horizons BFEA committee.

He is part of a family farming partnership that dates back to the 1970s, although his family’s connection with Opiki started in 1937.

Currently Chair of Tararua Growers Inc – a local vegetable growers’ association representing 50 members – Terry has also held leadership positions with both Potatoes New Zealand and Horticulture New Zealand.

As it strives to remain relevant in an ever-changing world, Tararua Growers has recently implemented two horticultural study scholarships to help people into the industry.

Karen farms a 450ha mixed cropping, beef, and lamb finishing property in the Wairarapa with her husband Mick. They are past Regional Supreme Winners for the Geater Wellington Region in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards, and Karen is a graduate of the Agri-Women’s Development Trust’s ‘Escalator’ Programme.  Karen received the Biosecurity Farmer of the Year Award in 2019 for her work on the pea weevil biosecurity incursion, and the couple won the Environmental and Sustainability Award at the 2022 NZ Arable Awards.

Karen currently works as the National Rural Propositions Manager at FMG where she brings a farmer and grower perspective to the Mutual. Karen is the former National Vice President and Arable Industry Chairperson for Federated Farmers NZ.

Karen has a Bachelor of Arts (Geography) degree and a Master of Resource Management from the University of Otago, and previously worked developing policy and plans for local authorities. Karen is driven to help farmers and the agricultural sector to better engage with government and key stakeholders to ensure rural communities remain strong, vibrant, economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

Sandy lives with her family on a sheep and beef property at Waerenga-o-Kuri, and is the Land Management Team Leader at Gisborne District Council (GDC), where her team works alongside rural communities to provide education and advocacy on sustainable land management practices. She is also the chair of the catchment group Weka Guardians, which focuses on the Hangaroa River and its tributaries.

With years of experience in land management and environmental projects, Sandy has led several notable initiatives, including managing the Wharekopae River Restoration Project and the Taruheru River Restoration Project. She has also led the Waimata Awa Nature-Based Solutions project, identifying nature-based solutions for slowing flood flows in the Waimata Catchment.

Her passion for sustainable farming is evident in her involvement with local communities, catchment groups, and mana whenua to ensure understanding of national and regional regulations at the farm scale. Sandy’s long-standing connection to the East Coast Ballance Farm Environment Awards, as both a committee member and first-round judge, further highlights her dedication to celebrating and supporting sustainable farming practices.

“Putauaki Te Maunga, Rangitaiki Te Awa, Mataatua Te Waka, Ngati Awa Te Iwi”

After thirty-one years as an award-winning chef followed by seven years of contract fencing and pest eradication on Mount Putauaki and the Tarawera Forest in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, Rex Anderson has worn many hats over the years, but his current one – orchard kaumatua and kaitiaki – perhaps fits most comfortably.

Back home in Te Teko, as a shareholder in Māori Investments Ltd (MIL), Rex has overseen all operations at MIL’s Whiritoa Orchards since 2017 in his role as Property Manager/ Orchard Kaumatua and Kaitiaki. Whiritoa Orchards was named the Bay of Plenty Regional Supreme Winner at the 2022 Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

The diverse range of natural resource knowledge and skills Rex brings to the Trust are drawn from being raised on his ancestral land since birth. The valuable lessons learnt from his elders of when to hunt, the right lunar months for planting food, the correct conditions for fishing or when to eel are early tikanga lessons that have been the foundation of Rex’s environmental practices throughout his life.

Hoping to bring a fresh face of perspective through a Maori lens, Rex is excited about his tenure with the NZFET Trust Board.

Since 1992 Rick has managed family companies in both New Zealand and Australia with his wife Shirley-Ann. These businesses included forestry, timber, manufacturing operations and a dairy farm in the Hunua Ecological District of Southern Auckland.  Over the past 12 years the farming business has grown and now consists of two dairy farms supplying Hereford cross calves to a sheep and beef farm. This gives Rick an insight into some of the challenges and opportunities facing these three primary industry sectors.

Being the Supreme Winner for the Auckland Region in the 2022 Ballance Farm Environment Awards highlighted to Rick the fantastic work the Trust does. He found there were many benefits to entering the awards, one of which was standing back and looking at their farms, assessing what they had achieved and what future development is needed, while striving to a maintain a financially viable operation. Meeting other participants whose stories show the great work happening on farms all over New Zealand was inspirational.

Rick believes many farmers in New Zealand are doing extraordinary things in the environmental and sustainability space, and by championing their achievements through the Ballance Farm Environment Awards, not only does the Trust encourage them on their personal journey but also gives inspiration and encouragement to the wider farming community.