Two new awards open to help young farmers progress to farm ownership
Entries have opened for two awards in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) programme, aimed at helping young farmers progress to farm ownership.
As a cooperative, Fonterra has a responsibility to its farmers to operate as efficiently as possible across every facet of its business, including vendor pricing and terms, says a spokesman.
"This will drive more cash back to our farmers, in turn helping strengthen rural economies," the written statement to the Dairy News says.
It was commenting on the letter which went out to about 4000 of its suppliers late last year wanting a 10% cut in prices and advising payment would now be 61 days after the end of the month an invoice was received.
"This is just one change we have made as part of a business-wide review and includes changes to our internal processes allowing us to be more responsive with our vendors and reduce our turnaround times with them," the spokesman says.
"We acknowledge that changes in payment terms will have an impact on vendors, and are working with them to help manage any potential impacts.
"The move to a 61 day term is in keeping with Fonterra's global standard term, which is already in place in many of our markets. The process of moving our vendors to our standard term has been underway for the last five years."
New Zealand's new Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, Horowhenua dairy farmer, company director and former Minister of Agriculture, Nathan Guy says the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India is a good deal for the country.
New figures show dairy farmers are not only holding on to their international workforce, but are also supporting those staff to step into higher-skilled roles on farm.
New tractor deliveries for 2025 jumped 10% compared to the previous year, a reflection of the positive primary sector outlook, according to the Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA).
Entries have opened for two awards in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) programme, aimed at helping young farmers progress to farm ownership.
Federated Farmers has confirmed interim chief executive Mike Siermans to the role.
Registrations are now open for the 2026 Ruralco Golf Classic, with all proceeds from the event set to support the Mid Canterbury Rural Support Trust.
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