Bank's desire to be part of the solution
ASB says the decision to sign on to the AgriZeroNZ joint venture came out of a wish to be a part of the solution.
ASB still expects dairy auction prices to rise over the season despite the GlobalDairyTrade price index falling 7.4% at the auction overnight.
It follows a 3.1% fall at the previous auction. But ASB rural economist Nathan Penny says they are sticking with their $5/kgMS milk price forecast.
"With September NZ production confirmed as weak, fundamentally we'd expect prices to hold their level or increase at this juncture," says Penny.
"While overall prices are still 46.3% higher than the August trough, nonetheless prices have fallen over two auctions."
"We interpret this contradiction as markets overdoing the recent surge in prices. Potentially buyers expect that demand is subdued enough and/or inventories are high enough to cover the production falls (in the absence of other producers picking up NZ's slack). However at this juncture, we disagree."
Key results from last night's auction were:
AMF index down 5.7%, average price US$3,647/MT; Butter index down 5.6%, average price US$2,574/MT; BMP index down 9.4%, average price US$1,844/MT; Ched index down 4.6%, average price US$2,987/MT; LAC index not available, average price not available; RenCas index down 11.2%, average price US$5,469/MT; SMP index down 8.0%, average price US$2,018/MT;
WMP index down 8.0%, average price US$2,453/MT.
The country’s 4200 commercial fruit and vegetable growers will vote from May 14 on a new HortNZ levy.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
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.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
Telco infrastructure provider Chorus says that it believes all Kiwis – particularly those in the rural areas – need access to high-speed, reliable broadband.
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