Open Country opens butter plant
When American retail giant Cosco came to audit Open Country Dairy’s new butter plant at the Waharoa site and give the green light to supply their American stores, they allowed themselves a week for the exercise.
DairyNZ board member Barbara Kuriger has been announced as the winner of the first annual Dairy Woman of the Year award.
The award was made by the Dairy Women's Network in association with Fonterra.
DairyNZ board chairman John Luxton says the award is highly deserved and recognises Barbara Kuriger for the active role she has taken in the dairy industry over a number of years.
"Barbara has demonstrated leadership and dedication and is a great role model for the industry," says Luxton.
The Dairy Woman of the Year award includes a 12 month scholarship for the prestigious Women in Leadership by Global Women, which is valued at $25,000. The scholarship is sponsored by Fonterra Milk Supply.
Kuriger and her husband, Louis, along with other family members, farm in Taranaki and other North Island locations. She plays a key part in the business and is known for her leadership contribution - not only locally but also on a regional and national level.
Kuriger is a past chair of LIC's national council, a former Fonterra shareholders' council member and is involved in the entrepreneurial investment organisation Taranaki Growth Spurt.
The sale of Fonterra’s global consumer and related businesses is expected to be completed within two months.
Fonterra is boosting its butter production capacity to meet growing demand.
For the most part, dairy farmers in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Tairawhiti and the Manawatu appear to have not been too badly affected by recent storms across the upper North Island.
South Island dairy production is up on last year despite an unusually wet, dull and stormy summer, says DairyNZ lower South Island regional manager Jared Stockman.
Following a side-by-side rolling into a gully, Safer Farms has issued a new Safety Alert.
Coming in at a year-end total at 3088 units, a rise of around 10% over the 2806 total for 2024, the signs are that the New Zealand farm machinery industry is turning the corner after a difficult couple of years.