increase font size
OPINION: According to media reports, the eye-watering price of butter has prompted Finance Minister Nicola Willis to ask for a 'please explain' from her former employer Fonterra.
Dairy is the country's largest export industry; but recent figured from Stats NZ show domestic butter prices have surged 65% and some people are struggling.
Surely, Willis will understand that global supply problems and high demand for New Zealand's products are driving local prices higher.
About 95% of New Zealand's dairy products are exported, which means the international market determines domestic prices.
It is a double-edged sword, where high prices are good for the country's economy but tough for domestic shoppers.
OPINION: There is zero chance that someone who joined Fonterra as a lobbyist, then served as a general manager of Fonterra's nutrient management programme, and sat on the board of Export NZ, a division of lobbyist group Business New Zealand, doesn't understand that local butter (and milk and cheese) prices are set by the international commodity price.
DairyNZ chair Tracy Brown has waded into the debate around soaring butter prices, pointing out that the demand for dairy overseas dictates the price to farmers and at the supermarket.
OPINION: Will synthetic milk derail NZ's economy?
OPINION: As India negotiates to open its borders to more global products, dairy is proving a sticky issue.
OPINION: Paranoia about foreigners is at an all-time high in the US and attention is now turning to foreign-owned farmland.
New Zealand avocado growers have received a major boost by securing a collective FernMark Licence for their exports.
Beef + Lamb NZ's countrywide director roadshow arrived in Feilding last week, bringing with it ongoing positivity in the sector, an overview of the work B+LNZ does on behalf of levypayers and a proposed change on how the levy would be collected in the future.
A stronger than expected outlook for dairy has prompted one bank to lift its 2025-26 season forecast milk price by 75c to $10.25/kgMS.
Chinese dairy giant Yili Group says its New Zealand operations are on track for strong revenue growth in 2025 after recording significant year-on-year growth for the first half of the year.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says the US tariff decision appears to be based on a calculation of trade deficits, with countries running a surplus with the US moved to the higher rate.
Alliance Group has announced plans to sell a 65% stake in the farmer-owned co-operative to Irish meat processor Dawn Meats Group for $250 million.
OPINION: Sydney has a $12 million milk disposal problem.
OPINION: Canterbury milk processor Synlait's recovery seems to have hit another snag.
