Misguided campaign
OPINION: Last week, Greenpeace lit up Fonterra's Auckland headquarters with 'messages from the common people' - that the sector is polluting the environment.
Fonterra has welcomed the formal approval by the shareholders of Beingmate Baby and Child Food Company Ltd to establish a joint venture to purchase the cooperative's Darnum plant in Australia.
The Beingmate board's formal approval (previously announced on October 29, 2015) was approved by the Beingmate shareholders in China on November 16.
The joint venture will manufacture nutritional powders, including infant formula and other nutritional milk powders, at Darnum in Australia, for Fonterra and Beingmate, and other customers.
Beingmate will own 51% of the JV and Fonterra will retain a 49% stake, and run the plant operation.
Last August, Fonterra and Beingmate announced that they intended to form a global partnership to help meet China's growing demand for infant formula. In March this year Fonterra acquired 18.8% of Beingmate.
The partnership will create a fully integrated global supply chain from the farm gate direct to China's consumers, using Fonterra's milk pools and manufacturing sites in New Zealand, Australia, and Europe.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).