Data sharing initiative wins national award for saving farmers time
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
Many Fonterra farmers have expressed their pride in the way the co-op board, management and staff have kept the wheels of the business turning during Covid-19.
That was the message from Fonterra Shareholders Council chairman James Barron at the co-op’s annual general meeting in Masterton today.
Speaking to about 180 farmers, Barron said, he like many of them, have greatly appreciated the leadership and commitment seen.
“The commitment to keep milk collections happening…. the entire Farm Source team supporting us, our plants operating, and our product being delivered and sold around the world.
“After a period of fairly intense criticism both in the media and by sectors of the general public, many of you told us it has been pleasing to see positive commentary on the importance of the agricultural sector to New Zealand.
“On behalf of our farmers, I would like to thank our Fonterra employees who have worked so hard, with grit, determination and professionalism, to keep our co-op open for business in these unprecedented times and their families who supported them as they did that.”
Barron also told shareholders that the Fonterra board met nine of the Board’s 14 targets in the last financial year: compared to five out of 15 in FY19, and one out of nine in FY18.
Since 2018, the council has also been monitoring average total shareholder return and average return on capital employed, in each case since Fonterra’s formation.
“This reflects the fact that we are all part of an intergenerational co-operative, and as such it is important to incorporate an intergenerational horizon when monitoring performance. We have been reporting these figures to you in our annual reports since 2018.”
Holstein Friesian excellence was front and centre at the 2025 Holstein Friesian NZ (HFNZ) Awards, held recently in Invercargill.
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
This past week has seen another round of negotiations between India and New Zealand to produce a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
The Infrastructure Commission has endorsed a plan by Chorus to expand fibre broadband to 95% of New Zealand much to the delight of rural women.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its…
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content…