Data sharing initiative wins national award for saving farmers time
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
It’s official, Fonterra’s organic farmers have become the first in the country to receive a double-digit milk payout.
As predicted by Dairy News, the cooperative’s 60 organic suppliers last season have set a record price for cow milk in New Zealand at $10.19/kgMS.
Fonterra’s global business manager organics Andrew Henderson told Dairy News that the final price was driven by a combination of factors including organic protein sales in the US, a favourable exchange rate and a number of efficiency improvements right across the supply chain.
“This is a fantastic result for organic dairy in New Zealand, it sets a new benchmark for the value of our premium New Zealand grass-fed dairy products,” says Henderson.
“It’s something we can all be proud of because, ultimately, the result is a culmination of work put in by a wide group of people.
“It starts with the effort of our organic suppliers to meet and exceed organic certification standards. Then it’s the endeavours of our transport, manufacturing, sales and marketing teams who all help make the most of that milk to drive returns and deliver value to the co-op.”
The list of organic milk suppliers is growing.
This season Fonterra will collect organic milk from 74 suppliers and about 25 additional farms are in the process of becoming organic farms, a transition that takes three years.
The co-op has set a 2020/21 forecast range $8.50 - $9.00/kgMS for this season.
Fonterra’s organic suppliers are based throughout the North Island, with most of the milk processed in Waikato.
The Waitoa plant makes organic milk powders and UHT milk, the Morrinsville plant butter and milk powders, while Hautapu produces cheese, whey protein concentrates and milk protein concentrates. Anchor organic milk is generated at Palmerton North.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its…
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content…