BLOG: Get the mongrel out of Fonterra
11 March 2019
It’s time for Fonterra to decide what it wants to be when it grows up.
At the moment it’s a dog, specifically a mongrel.
BLOG ARCHIVES
BLOG: More money can speed up change
4 March 2019
There was good news for dairy farmers last week with Fonterra raising its forecast milk price range by 30c to $6.30-6.60 for the season.
It appears production will be back a bit on forecasts though still ahead of last year. The dry that’s set into a few regions probably has something to do with that – I know farmers here are down to once-a-day.
BLOG: The truth about tenure reviews
25 February 2019
The end of the tenure review process for South Island pastoral leases announced last week is hardly a surprise for two reasons. Firstly, those wanting to be unshackled from having a Government landlord had 21 years to do so. But, a more pertinent factor, is Lands Minister Eugenie Sage, who in an earlier life was a Royal Forest and Bird employee and ardent critic of tenure review.
BLOG: We can’t eat the concrete
18 February 2019
When there is year-round milk for your coffee and supermarkets stocked with salad, fresh vegetables, fruit and meat it is understandable our urban cousins are complacent about the soil and toil required to produce it.
BLOG: Farm food critics hard to stomach
11 February 2019
The meat and dairy industries should rightly feel battered and bruised after a series of academic papers blaming the farming of animals for a multitude of the world’s ills.
These papers allege livestock farming is to blame for aiding climate change, environmental degradation and obesity.
BLOG: Don’t lose any of Wilson’s passion
4 February 2019
The death this week of former Fonterra chairman John Wilson is being felt across the agricultural sector.
Regardless of one’s view of the co-operative’s business decisions it’s impossible to fault Wilson’s commitment to the dairy industry and the farmers whose milk it runs.
BLOG: Taratahi jam unbelievable
22 January 2019
It seems inconceivable the Taratahi Institute of Agriculture was put in liquidation.
The 2014 Future Capabilities report for the Ministry for Primary Industries predicted that by 2025 the primary sector will need an extra 33,000 employees.
BLOG: New model needed for ag education
15 January 2019
Once again, the start of the academic tertiary year for students wanting to study sub-degree agriculture has been blighted by uncertainty.
BLOG: A year to remember
18 December 2018
It’s our last edition for 2018 and as usual for this time of year we’re filling our pages with some faces you don’t often see in the paper, but whose contribution to our sector is immense.
BLOG: The milk price is not a bad outcome
10 December 2018
In a week during which the Global Dairy Trade index increased for the first time in seven months Fonterra cut its farmgate milk price for the third time this season.
