The elections were a chance for farmers to be heard and to ''make things happen'' and they should not pass on the opportunity, meat and fibre chairwoman Jeanette Maxwell said.
''If you want empowerment in your farming business then, as shareholders, you need to vote,'' Mrs Maxwell said.
Nominations closed this week for the two vacancies on the board of Silver Fern Farms and three were received.
Incumbent directors Eoin Garden and David Shaw both retire by rotation at the company's annual meeting in Dunedin on December 18.
Mr Garden, from Millers Flat, has decided to step down, while Mr Shaw, who farms an intensive bull beef and lamb-finishing operation near Clinton, is standing for re-election.
Also seeking places on the board are West Otago farmer Richard Young and Gisborne farmer Dan Jex-Blake.
Mr Young runs an intensive sheep and cropping property at Tapanui, with 300ha, while Mr Jex-Blake is managing director of Mangapoike Ltd, a 24,000-stock unit farming company operating off 2260ha.
Voting papers will be posted to eligible shareholders on November 29. Voting will close on December 13 and the results will be announced at the annual meeting.
Don Morrison, who farms a 6000-stock unit operation in the Waikaka Valley, is seeking a place on the board of Alliance Group.
Two Alliance Group directors - chairman Murray Taggart, who operates a 518ha sheep and cropping farm at Oxford, and Jason Miller, who farms a 846ha sheep and beef property at Glencoe in Southland - both retire for rotation and are standing for re-election.
Mr Young, Mr Jex-Blake and Mr Morrison all stood down from the executive of Meat Industry Excellence to seek election. They were all pushing to merge Alliance Group and Silver Fern Farms as a first step to industry consolidation.
Mrs Maxwell said farmers had equity in the co-operatives so it was to their benefit to take an interest in them and who ran them: ''It's material to farm profitability and viability''.
