LIC ends year with $30.6m profit
Herd improvement company LIC has ended the 2024-25 financial year in a strong position - debt-free and almost quadrupling its net profit.
Camera imagery technology to get data on cows may soon be available on farm.
LIC Automation says it is trialling and early results are encouraging.
The co-op's automation chief executive Paul Whiston says data obtained from cows via camera imagery can be added to the herd recording service Minda.
"We hope to release the new technology at the National Fieldays; the LIC stand will be busy this year," he told Dairy News.
LIC Automation was formed in June 2015 following the co-op's takeover of milk sensor technology firm Dairy Automation Ltd in February 2014 and a decision to merge it with the co-op's automation business Protrack.
LIC Automation makes integrated and innovative systems, aimed at improving productivity onfarm, says Whiston. It recently bought 75% of Beacon Heat Detectors Pty Ltd, Australia, a maker of heat patches to help farmers identify cows on heat.
North Canterbury pig farmer Steve Sterne has been honoured with NZ Pork's Outstanding Contribution Award, recognising his 27 years of dedication to excellence in the sector.
Hawke's Bay's loss is Canterbury's gain with the opening of a new state-of-the-art soil testing laboratory for the Ravensdown subsidiary ARL (Analytical Research Laboratories) at Rolleston.
The Taranaki region is enjoying one of the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita figures in New Zealand, thanks to high farmgate dairy prices.
Fertiliser co-operative Ravensdown is working on delivering a rebate for its farmer shareholders next year - the first in four years.
New Zealand avocado growers have received a major boost by securing a collective FernMark Licence for their exports.
Beef + Lamb NZ's countrywide director roadshow arrived in Feilding last week, bringing with it ongoing positivity in the sector, an overview of the work B+LNZ does on behalf of levypayers and a proposed change on how the levy would be collected in the future.
OPINION: Sydney has a $12 million milk disposal problem.
OPINION: Canterbury milk processor Synlait's recovery seems to have hit another snag.