By ROBERT WHITE

IT would be easy to tell the story of Natalie Aker’s election to the Murray Goulburn board in terms of the obvious. She is the first woman to join the MG board and in her early 30s, she is understood to be the youngest person to hold such a position.
They are outstanding first-impression details. But there is far more to Natalie Akers than a list of “firsts”.
A mother of 18-month-old Lloyd, she and her husband, Geoff are part of a 600-cow family dairy farm at Tallygaroopna, just north of Shepparton.
She has packed an extensive agricultural career into a very short time including two years as chief executive of Murray Dairy.
In the past six years she has also undertaken a variety of dairy research and extension projects and has an extensive understanding of managing board operations, budgeting, policy and strategy.
She was also a water policy adviser with the Victorian Farmers’ Federation and has spent time in the UK working in local government policy development.
It is clear that policy development and strategic planning is her strong suit and she hopes it will be a critical part of the skills package she will bring to the board table.
The fact that she is the first woman on the board and that she is probably the youngest ever director are proud achievements but they aren’t the driving forces behind her standing for the recent Northern Region elections.
Natalie has a strong conviction that her talents and her skills base will make a difference.
She arrives at the board table at a time when the co-op is going through a massive change at its leadership level.
The appointment of a new chairman and a new managing director have put a different face on MG and Natalie makes a hat-trick of that new look.
She said her decision to stand for the MG board was two-fold. A number of farmer suppliers had asked her to consider putting her name forward and then the clincher came when chairman, Grant Davies, decided to retire.
“That changed everything,” Natalie said. “When a genuine vacancy became available, I felt the time was right.”
Natalie is aware that she faces a difficult task. She is new to the job and there is plenty to learn. And there is also the need to juggle her own busy family life and that of her husband who has just re-elected to the board of Dairy Australia.
There is also a small matter of having to rebuild the family house which was destroyed by fire a little over a month ago.
It was a traumatic event but it is Natalie’s nature to look at the positive side.
“The fire could have happened at night while we were asleep and we may not have got out alive,” she said.
Geoff was returning from irrigation duties on the farm when he noticed the smoke. The local CFA brigades were on the scene within minutes and some valuable business papers and computers records,along with a small amount of valued family possessions were saved. But in the end,the roof collapsed on the bulk of the house which was only eight years old.
A fault in the air conditioning system appears to be to blame.
“We saved as much as we could. With a fire like that, you have to put things into perspective and be thankful nobody was killed or injured.”
For Natalie, the way is now forward. She is not daunted by what lies ahead and has a planning processes in hand to cope with the demands she expects to face.
“I am excited rather than daunted,” Natalie said. “I think my skills in strategic planning and public policy will be an asset to the board and I think my understanding of water and agricultural issues will also be a benefit.”
Natalie has a strong commitment to the co-operative model and is determined to retain Murray Goulburn’s leading role in the Australian dairy industry.
She said she remained committed to ensuring MG maintained strategies that continued to value add so the wealth of suppliers was maximised.
She said the principles of a farmer owned co-operative were critical to ensure farmers maintained control of the supply chain so profits were maximised and passed directly onto farmers.
“The dairy industry is a great industry to be involved with and it is Murray Goulburn that is keeping the dairy family together.
“We must make sure we preserve its future and at the same time provide farmers with the best returns possible,” Natalie said.