A positive Fieldays, says Langford
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
The A1 versus A2 debate has the potential to tear the industry apart.
So says retired Lincoln University professor Keith Woodford, a strong advocate of A2 milk, he says people had tried to “shut him up”.
But he told Federated Farmers dairy conference that the tide has turned.
“Fonterra did not lightly make the decision earlier this year to get into bed with the a2 milk company, having denigrated them on occasions for 20-odd years,” he says.
“Nestle did not lightly take the opportunity earlier this year to start making its own A2 infant formula in China; and Mengniu, one of China’s biggest dairy companies, did not go that way lightly.”
He says dairy industry leaders must keep abreast of development in the A2 milk sector.
“There is science to go with it, don’t ever doubt that,” he says.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).
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