Ms Acland spoke at the Central South Island Farmer Council annual meeting in the woolshed at Glendhu Station near Wānaka last week.
She talked to more than 20 people at the meeting by video link from Wellington, as she was there to engage with the Labour Party agricultural caucus.
Council members asked her questions including the qualities and experience the board prioritised when hiring a new chief executive.
Alan Thomson starts in the role on Monday.
Ms Acland said the process was difficult and there was a huge amount of pressure to get it right.
"I can’t say it was actually a process I enjoyed but I’m really happy with the outcome."
The qualities they were looking for included someone with a commercial background who could "drive real efficiency through the organisation".
"That was probably number one on the list."
Due to reasons including declining stock numbers, Beef + Lamb might need to ask farmers for a levy increase.
"We can’t do that until we’ve absolutely driven the most efficient and effective organisation internally."
A member asked her to explain the "green shoots" she was seeing in the red meat, which she had been talking to media about.
She said they included a reduced supply of lamb from places such as New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe.
"It’s well publicised that it’s been down and we’ve already seen a small uptick in prices, just as a result of that expectation that there’ll be less coming out."
Meat processors had a view that lamb prices had bottomed out.
Another positive was interest rates dropping faster than expected.
"We know that 70% of our sheep and beef loans are floating, so that’s giving an immediate impact."
She said she wanted farmers to be really engaged, motivated and positive about Beef + Lamb and the future of farming.
"I think we’ve been very stuck in the now and in a reactive phase for quite some time."
New council members were elected at the meeting.
Sheep and beef farmers Matt Walker, of Tarras, Glen McDonald, of Roxburgh, and Tom Bell, of Timaru, were elected to replace outgoing members Georgie Murray, Scott Levings and Sarah Jamieson.
Mr Walker said he was optimistic about the future of agriculture.
"I feel by getting involved I’ll be able to provide benefit to our local community and the wider industry."
Mr McDonald said his aim as a councillor was to help disseminate the massive amount of knowledge and expertise Beef + Lamb had to provide farmers.
"I also enjoy working with positive, forward-thinking farmers."
Council members voted to retain chairman Sam Stevens, of Poolburn, and deputy chairman John Fitzgerald, of Waikouaiti, in their roles.
Victoria Magazinovic, of St Andrews, was elected as the council farmer research advisory group representative.
Beef + Lamb director Nicky Hyslop said at the meeting Beef + Lamb needed to continue its commercial mindset.
"It’s important that we are really mindful that this is farmer money.
"We should be thinking about that all the time in terms of where we spend it and really focus on measuring outcomes rather than outputs."
Beef + Lamb needed strategic partnerships and collaborate better so money was spent wisely.
Afforestation was "hurting" the sheep and beef industry.
"We’ve got a million less lambs floating around and that is why we’ve seen such strong prices recently for lamb but what does that look like for the rest of the season?
"That’s going to be challenging."
Beef + Lamb was not anti-forestry as there were opportunities to integrate trees in farms, she said.
