Wednesday, 17 May 2023 13:55

Future openings for dairy

Written by  Staff Reporters
Farmers at the DairyNZ Farmers' Forum in Cambridge heard from Melissa Clarke-Reynolds and DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel. Farmers at the DairyNZ Farmers' Forum in Cambridge heard from Melissa Clarke-Reynolds and DairyNZ chair Jim van der Poel.

Dairy customers around the world are demanding transparency, wanting to know about the sector's products and services, and what it is doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says foresight practitioner and strategist Melissa Clarke-Reynolds.

Addressing dairy farmers at a recent DairyNZ Farmers' Forum in Cambridge, Clarke-Reynolds highlighted her optimism in dairy being able to position well, while responding to the changing farming landscape. She also spoke last week at the Canterbury Farmers' Forum.

"We are coming into a time of turbulence, where we are under pressure to reduce our emissions. Part of this challenge is looking at what premiums we can add to milk, to gain a higher price and provide what the customer is asking for," she says.

"Our farmers produce artisan milk at volume. This is milk that is from grass-fed cows, in the open country, and produced by farmers that care for their animals, people, communities and country.

"We need to make these benefits and 'natural-ness' at the forefront of our products, in a world where milk will be made cheaper and better by technology in the future.

"Dairy is the backbone to our economy, and we produce milk well. But now is the time to prepare for the disruption that is coming in the next 10 years and consider how you will shift to differentiate your individual businesses."

DairyNZ chairman Jim van der Poel also emphasised that New Zealand continues to contribute significantly to the economy, generating $22 billion in export earnings in the 2021/22 season.

"Our dairy products today are highly valued by our global customers. They know them to be safe, of high quality and produced to  a high standard," Jim says.

"This was no fluke. New Zealand dairy farmers are some of the most innovative in the world. We have always had challenges, but over the years a combination of farmer innovation and science has driven us forward and will continue to help as we face difficult challenges."

More like this

Is augmented reality the future of farming?

Imagine a farmer being able to tell a paddock’s pasture cover and dry matter content just by looking at it, or accessing information about a cow’s body condition score in the same way.

Good riddance

OPINION: A mate of the Hound’s reckons the end of Beef + Lamb NZ independent director Melisa Clark-Reynolds’ term can’t come soon enough.

Top line-up promised for expo

The countdown is on to one of the highlights of the wider region’s agriculture calendar, the 2021 East Coast Farming Expo for sheep and beef farmers.

Featured

Editorial: Right call

OPINION: Public pressure has led to Canterbury Police rightly rolling back its proposed restructure that would have seen several rural police stations closed in favour of centralised hubs.

Owl Farm marks 10 years as NZ’s first demonstration dairy farm

In 2015, the signing of a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge, and Lincoln University saw the start of an exciting new chapter for Owl Farm as the first demonstration dairy farm in the North Island. Ten years on, the joint venture is still going strong.

National

Machinery & Products

New McHale terra drive axle option

Well-known for its Fusion baler wrapper combination, Irish manufacturer McHale has launched an interesting option at the recent Irish Ploughing…

Amazone unveils flagship spreader

With the price of fertiliser still significantly higher than 2024, there is an increased onus on ensuring its spread accurately at…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

The real emergency

The nutters of the green world, aided and abetted by the lamestream media, are rewriting the English language for the worse.

A very low road

OPINION: The self righteous activists at Greenpeace are copying the self-righteous lefties behind the ‘free Palestine’ movement – not surprising given…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter