Top dairy CEO quits
Arguably one of the country's top dairy company's chief executives, Richard Wyeth has abruptly quit Chinese owned Westland Milk Products (WMP)
Westland Milk Products says its 2.5% drop in peak milk processing has meant more capacity available for the cooperative and its shareholders, enabling more focus on added-value product.
Chief executive Rod Quin today confirmed that Westland hit peak mid November. In total, Westland processed 3.84 million litres of milk by peak flow, compared with 3.93 L the season prior.
"This slight drop, combined with our new dryer seven coming into commercial production meant we had greater capacity to put more of the peak milk flow into higher value products," says Quin.
"In previous years peak milk has all been channelled into bulk milk powders to maintain throughput, which give a lower return compared to products such as infant formula.
Based on the current demand from infant formula customers, we expect the end of season results will show that we have sold more value-add product at a higher profit margin."
Quin notes that the trend for reduced production at Westland and across the New Zealand dairy industry as a whole is expected to continue and global markets should not be banking on New Zealand lifting or even maintaining its production this season.
The predicted El Nino weather pattern in the coming months is also likely to keep production down, says Quin. Canterbury farms are expected to face dryer conditions and possible irrigation restrictions, while West Coast Farms are predicted to experience a wetter and colder season – both tending to result in less milk coming off-farm.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
OPINION: Should cows in NZ be microchipped?
OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…