Bakers prefer butter, helping prices soar
Consumers around the world are willing to pay more for products containing dairy and this is driving demand for butter and cream, says Fonterra.
South Island independent milk processor Westland Milk is offering start-up scholarship for tertiary study.
The co-op will provide $100,000 to students over the next 10 years. Successful applicants will receive a one-off payment with the intention of removing barriers to students entering studies.
The Pike River and Canterbury Disaster Relief Fund, which funds the scholarship, was created this month to acknowledge the hardships faced by families of the Pike River Coal disaster and Canterbury earthquakes.
Westland Milk company secretary Mark Lockington says more than $10,000 a year over the next 10 years has been dedicated to the fund.
"This is an exciting opportunity for potential students to take up study plans they might not have previously considered," Lockington says.
"Being one of the West Coast's largest employers, we recognise the value of a skilled and well trained community and we urge anyone who might be thinking about tertiary training to apply."
Westland's current scholarship programme supports university-based tertiary learning, but the start-up scholarship will support all post-secondary school training including polytechnic studies and industry related programmes led by training organisations such as AgITO.
To be eligible, applicants must intend to enrol in a recognised tertiary learning programme and indicate which of the four categories they wish to apply for. The four categories are:
• Personal circumstances – e.g. financial, distance, hardship.
• Academic / vocational – special interest or ability
• Leadership / personal development – Individual abilities or skills
• Dairy industry related – on-farm training through AgITO, DairyNZ or another organisation.
Applicants must also demonstrate a link to Westland's milk supply regions of the West Coast and Canterbury's Selwyn District, which may include having lived in the specified areas.
Funds provided to successful applications will be determined on a case by case basis according to their study fee requirements.
Applications close on January 12.Visit www.westland.co.nz and follow the start-up link or call Nicky Cooper in Human Resources on 03 756 9861.
Fieldays 2025 opens this week with organisers saying the theme, 'Your Place', highlights the impact the event has on agriculture both in the Southern Hemisphere and across the globe.
Sam Carter, assistant manager for T&G's Pakowhai Sector, has been named the Hawke's Bay 2025 Young Grower of the Year.
The CEO of Apples and Pears NZ, Karen Morrish, says the strategic focus of her organisation is to improve grower returns.
A significant breakthrough in understanding facial eczema (FE) in livestock brings New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s devastating impact on farmers, animals, and rural communities.
Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.
OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).
OPINION: The Free Speech Union is taking this one too far.
OPINION: New national data from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), a leading workplace drug tester, shows methamphetamine (meth) use is…