Fonterra Whareroa sets cheese record, wins top award
Fonterra Whareroa wrapped up a successful season with a record-breaking cheese production volume and several gongs at the co-op's annual Best Site Cup awards.
Fonterra is pulling out of another non-core business – importing palm kernel expeller.
The co-operative has offloaded its 50% stake in Agrifeeds to joint venture partner Wilmar International for $27.5 million. Fonterra will continue to be the exclusive seller of Agrifeeds PKE products through its Farm Source stores.
In an email to farmer suppliers today, Farm Source group director Richard Allen says as part of the co-op’s continuous review of investments, it has concluded that ownership of Agrifeeds “is no longer necessary to ensure farmers have access to sustainably sourced and competitively priced [stock] food”.
In recent years, Fonterra has urged its farmer suppliers to cut back on PKE usage, as international customers demand a better sustainability footprint for food products.
The co-op has also come under fire from environmental lobby groups like Greenpeace for importing PKE and allowing its usage as a supplementary feed.
PKE is a by-product of the palm oil industry, which Greenpeace claims causes rainforest destruction in Indonesia.
The Agrifeeds joint venture was set up in 2008.
Allen says the investment has delivered strong returns.
“During periods of poor pasture growth or quality, access to supplementary feed plays an important role in maintaining productivity on-farm and the wellbeing of your herd,” he told farmers.
Wilmar has confirmed that there will be no change to the product range available in NZ.
A brilliant result and great news for growers and regional economies. That's how horticulture sector leaders are describing the news that sector exports for the year ended June 30 will reach $8.4 billion - an increase of 19% on last year and is forecast to hit close to $10 billion in 2029.
Funding is proving crucial for predator control despite a broken model reliant on the goodwill of volunteers.
A major milestone on New Zealand's unique journey to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis could come before the end of this year.
We're working through it, and we'll get to it.
The debate around New Zealand's future in the Paris Agreement is heating up.
A technical lab manager for Apata, Phoebe Scherer, has won the Bay of Plenty 2025 Young Grower regional title.
OPINION: It's official, Fieldays 2025 clocked 110,000 visitors over the four days.
OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.