Better days coming - Open Country Dairy
Open Country Dairy suppliers have received a final payout of $7.37/ kgMS for milk sent to the factories in October and November last year.
The country’s second-largest dairy processor says milk supply has been strong across all regions.
Open Country Dairy says its four factories are now running flat out to process milk.
OCD chief executive Steve Koekemoer told suppliers that the new Horotiu factory is already processing near capacity and the Wanganui factory is breaking its production records this season with new farmers that have come aboard.
“Awarua and Waharoa (plants) are nearing peak and fortunately we have had very minimal downtime due to our stringent winter maintenance programmes, he said in OCD’s October newsletter Talk Milk.
“It is that busy time of the year where everyone at Open Country Dairy has their head down and is working as hard as they can to ensure we process every drop of your milk efficiently.”
Koekemoer says OCD’s organic programme is also nearing its first processing date in November after two years of transition on farm and a big upgrade of the factory to process the milk.
“It is an exciting venture for our organics team that is focused on making this a success for the business and our organic farmers in Southland. “We expect our first branded product to be on shelves in early 2019 and are enthusiastic to see this sector grow as we prepare for our launch.”
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Two major red meat sector projects are getting up to a combined $1.7 million in funding from the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
Angus Barr and Tara Dwyer of The Wandle, Lone Star Farms in Strath Taieri have been named the Regional Supreme Winners at the Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards in Dunedin.
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