News
Murray retires after 25 years of service
Date: May 31, 2024
After an impressive 25-year’s, Murray Pedley, QCONZ’s Major Shareholder, Director, former Board Chair and CEO, has retired.
Murray’s tenure has been marked by his unwavering integrity and principled approach, which have played a significant role in QCONZ’s evolution from a garage startup to a globally respected audit company. Under his leadership, QCONZ has become a trusted name, known for its customer-centric focus and expertise in on-farm auditing, milk quality, digital solutions and training.
Beyond his role at QCONZ, Murray’s influence has extended to shaping milking machine training through NZMPTA and contributing to the development of assurance programmes for the dairy, sheep and beef, fertilizers, pig, and poultry.
Internationally, Murray has played a major role in expanding our businesses in Brazil and has significantly contributed to numerous aid projects across the Pacific, Africa, South America, and Asia. These projects have enhanced milk quality and positively impacted lives.
We extend our appreciation for Murray’s years of service and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
Other news
Fieldays 2024 was a fantastic opportunity to present our FreshWater Farm Plan (FWFP) tool and reconnect with our clients and wider industry stakeholders.
Murray had the privilege of attending the New Zealand Roundtable for Sustainable Beef’s annual conference and AGM in Christchurch in May.
Justin Moss and Josh Wheeler from QCONZ took a trip to Parliament in May to meet with Hon. Andrew Hoggard to discuss Freshwater Farm Plans (FWFPs). We were excited to share our learnings from the past few years.
Big news for New Zealand farmers! QCONZ is excited to share our new FreshWater Farm Plan Tool. It’s a digital helper that makes it easy for farmers to create their freshwater farm plans quickly.
In late October Chris Leach led an MPI dairy development training programme for farmers and extension officers in Pak Chong, Thailand. Pak Chong is the central region of Thailand, approximately a 2 ½ hour drive north of Bangkok, and is at the centre of the developing Thai Dairy Industry.
We were thrilled to be a major sponsor of the New Zealand Association of Resource Management (NZARM) conference held in Christchurch in October.
We flew the QCONZ flag again this year at the annual Red Meat Sector Conference, jointly hosted by the Meat Industry Association and Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd.
As of 1 October, the QCONZ team will be delivering audits for the New Zealand Farm Assurance Programme (NZFAP). We have been working hard behind the scenes to get systems and processes in place, and from August farmers can expect to start hearing from us regarding audit bookings.
QCONZ proudly sponsored the Milk Quality Conference in Hamilton on the 4th and 5th July. Attended by 125, this was a great opportunity for engagement and collaboration between industry and service providers in the Dairy sector.
In June, the QCONZ team gathered in Hamilton for our biennial staff conference. We had a great time bringing our team together from all corners of New Zealand to celebrate, connect, and have fun! Day one of the conference kicked off with a business update and group sessions where each business unit shared recent work