DairyNZ: Strong payouts offset high farm costs
The dairy sector is in a relatively stable position, with strong milk price payout forecasts continuing to offset ongoing high farm costs, according to DairyNZ.
Science, communication and how dairy works with other sectors to ensure New Zealand has a good reputation for sustainability will be a focus for Jacqueline Rowarth as a new director of DairyNZ.
Rowarth is one of two new farmer-elected directors and former Wellington City councillor; Jo Coughlan took a board-appointed position.
Rowarth says she has also always been interested in recruitment and how the sector gets good people as it makes money for NZ, she told Dairy News.
“It is just ensuring that people understand the good work done by the farmers of NZ, including the dairy sector which frequently gets a bit of a bad rap,” she says.
She thinks the sectors should be working together to ensure all other countries understand our efficiency in producing food. “There are very few countries that can match our lack of subsidies and efficiency of production per unit of greenhouse gas, nitrogen loss and labour hours.”
NZ agriculture is leading our productivity data; without the primary sector we would look dismal, she says.
“I am really positive and excited about being in this role and being able to work on what is already good and make it great.”
Rowarth was the first chief scientist at the Environmental Protection Authority. Other roles she has held include professor of pastoral agriculture at Massey University and professor of agribusiness at Waikato University.
She has 35 years experience as a soil scientist, with a research focus on managing the productive environment (nutrients and greenhouse gases). In 2011 she invested in a family-run dairy farm in Tirau.
Speakers at the DairyNZ annual meeting in Invercargill said sustainable farm systems and the new strategy’s six commitments will be crucial for dairy’s success.
DairyNZ chairman Jim van der Poel said the Dairy Tomorrow strategy launched in 2017 is now central to the sector’s progress.
“It has six commitments: the environment, resilient businesses, producing high quality nutrition, animal care, great workplaces and growing vibrant communities,” said van der Poel.
Like many manufacturers around the world, European agricultural machinery and tractor manufacturers are currently operating in a difficult market environment. But they are heading to the world’s largest agricultural machinery event in Hanover next month with a degree of cautious optimism.
Established in 2021, the John Deere Technician of the Year Awards champion the important contribution parts and service technicians make to the Australian and New Zealand agriculture, construction and forestry industries.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
New Zealand is closer to eradicating bovine TB than ever before, but possums remain a threat, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
OPINION: Dairy industry players are also falling by the wayside as the economic downturn bites around the country.
OPINION: Methane Science Accord, a farmer-led organisation advocating for zero tax on ruminant methane, will be quietly celebrating its first…