Get to know Meg Warrender

Navigating digital platforms and keeping it all ticking over – we catch up with Canterbury’s Meg Warrender (Farmer Support and Relationship Advisor) to find out the intricacies in her role.

I’ve never pondered a life or a career away from the dairy industry – dairy is very much in my veins after growing up on a dairy farm in Southland, it’s no surprise to anyone that I work for Fonterra!

After I graduated from Lincoln University, I was fortunate to secure a spot on the two-year graduate programme at Fonterra where you spend six months across different rotations to learn about all the different roles within the Co-op. After that I covered a maternity leave as a Sustainable Dairy Advisor here in wider Canterbury and really gained a love of being out, about and helping our farmers.

My current role is as a Farmer Support and Relationship Advisor, and I can honestly say I love my job. There are so many parts to my role, but overall, I am there to help with farm dairy assessment preparation, Co-operative Difference and other operational tasks farmers contend with.

We work alongside our farmers so they can understand Fonterra’s tools, apps, and digital platforms to ensure their business runs smoothly. Talking to our farmers face to face is so valuable. It creates the opportunity to sit down over a cup of coffee and discuss any roadblocks they might have, and how we can help them navigate those. It also gives us a chance to gain feedback so we can constantly look at ways to improve the user experience and make it easier to get the job done.

We have a range of great tools online, but for some, digital technology can be harder to figure out, so I am here to show them how to make everything work for them and their business. 

One of my favourite parts of my role is heading into our Farm Source stores in Balclutha, Waimate, Oamaru and Temuka, where each month I hold a drop-in session at each store. It is a dedicated day where I am there for farmers to drop by, bring their laptop or use ours to log in, and work through their assessment queries and online requirements for Co-operative Difference. Whether they are needing information on carbon removals, or record keeping for farm dairy records – I can help them with any queries. Plus, they can do it all while they pick up supplies, so very much keeping it easy for them to connect with me!

Whenever I am heading out to the stores, I plan my farm visits for the area too – there is nothing better than being on-farm, seeing their passion and pride in the business, and helping farmers wherever I can – plus having a good yarn is always great.

This role, and my overall experience at Fonterra has been so valuable, and I look forward to continuing to support farmers so they can enjoy the best bits of farming and what hopefully will be a long career with the Co-op, ideally always working with our farmers in a face-to-face capacity, as that’s where you can make the biggest impact.

For more information on your local drop-in days – contact your local Farmer Support Relationship Advisor to find out more.