Tuesday, 27 April 2021 16:00

Fonterra's dilemma

Written by  Milking It

OPINION: The Chinese owners of Australia’s biggest and oldest dairy farming business are facing scrutiny from authorities and all eyes are on Fonterra.

Milk from the Van Dairy Group, which owns 23 farms in Tasmania is picked up by Fonterra.

Now media reports suggest the company could sell 10 farms as it struggles to clean up its act.

The Australian Environmental Protection Agency has launched an investigation into alleged animal abuse and overstocking of cattle, which it is alleged is causing effluent systems to fail and damaging nearby waterways.

A series of confidential documents, photographs and accounts from employees and locals appeared to show the conditions deteriorated after the 2016 takeover by China’s Moon Lake.

The big question is, given the highly competitive raw milk market in Australia, will Fonterra feel pressure to stop collecting milk from the farm until the farm owners tidy up their act?

More like this

Strange bedfellows

OPINION: Two types of grifters have used the sale of Fonterra's consumer brands as a platform to push their own agendas - under the guise of 'caring about the country'.

Featured

National

Machinery & Products

New pick-up for Reiter R10 merger

Building on experience gained during 10 years of making mergers/ windrowers, Austrian company Reiter has announced the secondgeneration pick-up on…

Krone EasyCut B1250 fold

In 2024, German manufacturer Krone introduced the F400 Fold, a 4m wide disc front mower, featuring end modules that hinge…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Remembering Bolger

OPINION: Is it now time for the country's top agricultural university to start thinking about a name change - something…

Time for action

OPINION: If David Seymour's much-trumpeted Ministry for Regulation wants a serious job they need look no further than reviewing the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter