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FONTERRA HAS signed a five-year strategic agreement with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to drive innovation in sustainable farming, manufacturing, health, nutrition and consumer dairy products.
CSIRO will apply its expertise to the cooperative's global dairy chain using its broad range of industrial know-how and scientific capability in remote sensing, resource engineering, ecosystem, food and water to help propel Fonterra's V3 strategy.
Fonterra chief technology officer Dr Jeremy Hill says, "We intend our partnership with CSIRO to develop a range of solutions to address Fonterra's science and technology needs."
"On-farm, CSIRO will turn their attention to herd productivity, effluent management and milk quality, and then work through our supply chain looking at processing and analytical technology, food structure and design, and consumer health benefits. We're leaving no stone unturned to ensure Fonterra stays at the cutting edge of dairy innovation."
Hill says innovation developed from strategic partnerships with the likes of CSIRO will be crucial to meet the needs of new markets and to ensure the industry remains commercially and environmentally sustainable.
"CSIRO has developed 3D printed devices to treat sleep apnoea, soil contamination detectors and highly efficient solar technology. These technologies aren't traditionally associated with the dairy industry, but it's the science and thinking behind these innovations that will benefit our focus on getting more value from our farmers' milk and doing so sustainably," says Dr Hill.
CSIRO's executive director agriculture food and health Maurice Moloney says partnership is a key component of CSIRO's strategy to deliver research solutions for the global dairy industry and it is strongly aligned with wider food and nutrition and through-chain research strategies.
"Our expertise provides significant opportunities across the entire dairy value-chain and by connecting with the likes of Fonterra we can speed delivery to market, and hence the positive impact, of this know-how," he says.
Concluding, Hill says, "There are a many possibilities to share expertise, knowledge and know-how between our two organisations that will build on Fonterra's current strengths in dairy science and technology and the broad capabilities that exist within CSIRO. We're looking forward to exploiting the full potential of this new partnership."
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