"They shouldn't read too much into it. The chairman is not the most important person but I guess my profile has made it newsworthy," Mr Norgate said in an interview yesterday.
Mr Norgate will remain a director, but Forsyth Barr investment adviser Tony Conroy said the market's muted reaction was a sign it saw the move as genuine and marked a new phase in the company's development.
Independent director Keith Smith is PGG Wrightson's new chairman, a person Mr Conroy said had a more appropriate skill base for the period the company was entering.
Mr Norgate said with two companies - Pyne Gould Corporation and Rural Portfolio Investments - owning half the company and the public the other half, it was appropriate to have an independent chairman.
He had been a hands-on chairman for the 15 months new managing director Tim Miles had been gaining experience and building a team.
Mr Miles was now ready to take the company to the next level.
"It is time for me to step back and . . . contribute, which is what I enjoy doing," Mr Norgate said.
Mr Smith's appointment was more market perception than a significant shift, he said, as the two men had different styles, but ended up with the same result.
Mr Norgate led PGG Wrightson through a period of acquisition, especially in the grain and seed sector, greenfield investments such as NZ Farming Systems Uruguay, and facilitating industry change in the wool industry and last year's failed meat industry joint venture with Silver Fern Farms.
Mr Conroy said the company was entering a new phase, evident from the governance review.
"Mr Norgate's skill base, as he admits himself, is more aligned with a growth strategy and implementing change. What the company needs at this stage and in this environment is a stabilising skill set, focusing on freeing up cash and cost cutting."
The company faced challenges from a downgraded full-year result, due to weak on-farm expenditure, from between $36 million and $42 million, to a $30 million to $32 million range.
It also had to address debt, including settling a $125 million loan which matured in December 2010.
Forsyth Barr analyst John Cairns said it was making progress reducing debt and was compliant with its banking covenants.
"PGG Wrightson is facing cyclical headwinds in its core agricultural business. However, we believe the medium to longer-term outlook for New Zealand agriculture remains positive," he said.
Mr Norgate remains managing director of Rural Portfolio Investments, a Dunedin company he owns jointly with the McConnon family and which has a 27.5% stake in PGG Wrightson.
He has been chairman of PGG Wrightson since October 2007, having previously been deputy chairman, and he was a director during the 2005 merger of Wrightson and Pyne Gould Guinness.
Before that, he had a career in the dairy industry, heading Kiwi Dairy Co-op and, after the 2001 dairy industry merger, was the inaugural chief executive of Fonterra before being unceremoniously replaced in 2003 by Andrew Ferrier.
Forsyth Barr said the change should have no effect on company earnings or its valuation.
PGG Wrightson's share price closed last night down 4c for the day at 94c.
