Spaans, who was 54, joined the DairyNZ board in 2008 and was elected chairman in November 2015. He was also a director of Fonterra from 2013 until January this year when illness forced an early retirement.
“Michael will be greatly missed by the board, our staff, our farmers and the wider Waikato community,” DairyNZ acting chairman Barry Harris said.
“His passion and knowledge of the sector and dedication to improving outcomes for dairy farming profitability and sustainability are well known.
“We are going to miss his thoughtful debating and farmer-first approach to investment, his involvement with the dairy leaders group, his focus as chairman of the Waikato Dairy Leaders Group and the group’s desire to improve the state of the Waikato River and support for the Healthy Rivers Plan, in particular.”
Fonterra chairman John Wilson said Spaans brought experience and a huge level of energy and commitment to Fonterra’s board.
“Michael was a man who knew the importance of detail. He made sure that he knew this business extremely well, understood our strategy and was completely across the detail of the numbers.
“He always looked for constructive solutions and thought deeply about our co-op’s governance and his role in the evolution of our business,” Wilson said.
Spaans grew up on a family farm at Tauhei, near Morrinsville, and attended Mangateparu School, Morrinsville Intermediate and Morrinsville College.
He later took over his parents’ farm at Manawaru, living there with his wife Kristina and their three children, now aged 16, 20 and 22, until his death.
A keen basketballer as a young man, Spaans started farming life in Te Aroha as a young sharemilker, getting into governance around the time of the creation of Fonterra.
He started with the old New Zealand Dairy Group shareholders’ council and continued to serve as Te Aroha ward representative when the council and company became part of Fonterra.
He had since held many governance positions, dedicating his life to improving farming in NZ.