Buttery prize
OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having the last laugh when it comes to cashing in on NZ grass-fed butter.
Westland Milk finished the season with a 5.3% increase in milk processed on last season, despite the drought on the West Coast.
This compares with a 2% drop in the total New Zealand milk production for 2012/13.
Chief executive Rod Quin says Westland processed nearly 670 million litres of milk, mostly into various powder-based products for export.
"The production figure is a credit to the resilience of our shareholder/suppliers in what has been a tough season for many, and to staff who have initiated changes at the Hokitika factory to allow milk processing all year round without the traditional shut-down period."
Despite the West Coast being severely impacted by a drought this season, Quin says Coast suppliers held their own, keeping production to much the same levels as last year. Westland also benefited from the production of its Canterbury shareholders who had the advantage of irrigated properties.
Quin says major changes within the company to allow for year-round production, plus the first ever offer to shareholders of the option to milk through the traditional dry season, have brought about a new era in Westland's production processes.
It puts the company on a solid footing to meet the increasing demand for its products, especially its new range of high-end nutritionals destined mainly for China.
"This year we have four farms supplying milk right through the traditional off-season," Quin says. "Feedback from these suppliers has been positive, and the benefits to the cooperative are flowing through as expected. Plans are underway for this opportunity to continue in future seasons when we expect the take up of milking-through will be higher."
Acclaimed fruit grower Dean Astill never imagined he would have achieved so much in the years since being named the first Young Horticulturist of the Year, 20 years ago.
The Ashburton-based Carrfields Group continues to show commitment to future growth and in the agricultural sector with its latest investment, the recently acquired 'Spring Farm' adjacent to State Highway 1, Winslow, just south of Ashburton.
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has blasted Fonterra farmers shareholders for approving the sale of iconic brands to a French company.
A major feature of the Ashburton A&P Show, to be held on October 31 and November 1, will be the annual trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial test match, with the best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman going head-to-head in two teams of four.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
The key to a dairy system that generates high profit with a low emissions intensity is using low footprint feed, says Fonterra program manager on-farm excellence, Louise Cook.
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