Two new producer appointees, Hamish Fraser, of South Canterbury, and Dr Jacqueline Rowarth, of Waikato, were welcomed to the board at a recent meeting in Wellington, replacing former chairman Ian Walker, and Mark Harris who have retired.
First Light Foods group managing director Gerard Hickey was elected deputy chairman.
In a statement, Dr Bell said both she and Mr Hickey would be active in the governance of the board, which had committed itself to accelerating the recovery of the industry from Covid-19.
"We believe there is a large untapped potential for profitable venison production on drystock farms," she said.
"The industry’s response to the Covid pandemic has been focused on building market opportunities.
"We now have a much greater spread of markets and market segments than ever before and with those, we can offer much greater income security to venison producers.
"The board also recognises the value that velvet adds to the industry. This is true, even on venison operations, where velvet from spikers and sire stags adds significantly to the economics of farming deer."
The industry association would continue to support producers with policy advocacy where needed.
It also planned to use the industry’s environmental leadership to build sales of venison and velvet to affluent customers who were seeking healthy food produced to the highest environmental and animal welfare standards.
Dr Bell is co-owner of Criffel Station and has commercial interests in animal health product importing and trading companies.
She has also been involved in the development of several major deer industry initiatives, including: the Passion2Profit programme that has been instrumental in the development of new venison markets; the deer progeny test that has greatly strengthened Deer Select, the industry’s genetic database; and DeerPro, that detects and manages Johne’s disease in deer.
She is a passionate believer in the potential of sustainable land management systems to deliver better environmental performance and economic outcomes for farmers.
She was a member of the Freshwater Leaders Group and is chairwoman and programme director of WAI Wānaka, a collaborative approach to improving environmental outcomes in Lake Wānaka and the Upper Clutha.
Dr Bell has had a lifelong interest in deer, attending New Zealand’s first live deer auction as a child and working with fallow deer as a vet student.
She and husband Jerry, who has previously served as a DINZ board member, farm 6000 deer at Criffel Station. Their other business interests include tourism and property development.
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