LCAs tackle false narratives
The quest to measure, report and make sense of the energy that goes into food production has come a long way in the past 25 years.
DairyNZ chairman Michael Spaans says after three “very tough” years, things are looking better for farmers.
He says while wet weather continues to wreak havoc on farms throughout the country, on the milk price front things are looking much better.
Spaans made the comments while opening the DairyNZ Farmers Forum in Taranaki today; about 120 Taranaki farmers are attending the day-long event.
Fonterra’s farmgate milk price for 2016-17 season stands at $6/kgMS, compared to $3.90/kgMS last season. The co-op will announce its forecast payout for the new season, starting June 1, on Wednesday.
Spaans, who stepped down from the Fonterra board earlier this year after a health scare, believes a $6 payout is “fairly solid” for this season.
But he says conditions on farm remain tough- wet weather has been quite a challenge.
“Spring was extremely wet- not only in Taranaki but right across North Island and South island,” he says.
“Autumn has been wetter, particularly in my neck of the woods – in east Waikato where I farm- we have had probably half our annual rainfall in the last two months.”
Flooding in Edgecumbe also affected dairy farmers earlier this year.
The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards has added ASB Bank to its national sponsor family.
The quest to measure, report and make sense of the energy that goes into food production has come a long way in the past 25 years.
Animal disease management agency OSPRI has announced sweeping governance changes as it seeks to recover from the expensive failure of a major software project.
Driving down Broadlands Road, northeast of Taupo there's a cluster of 19 Pāmu dairy farms around what is known as the Wairakei Estate.
Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ) says the Government’s new gene editing and genetic modification reforms could leave New Zealand as an outlier on the global stage.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will be fronting farmers at three large public meetings organised by Federated Farmers over the coming weeks.
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