Sugar hit
OPINION: Winston Peters has described the decision to sell its brand to Lactalis and disperse the profit to its farmer shareholders as a 'short sighted sugar hit'.
While no official statement has come yet from Fonterra Co-operative Council, Milking It understands that for the first time ever, there are only three candidates for board elections.
And they are sitting directors - chairman Peter McBride, John Nichols and Leonie Guiney - all retiring by rotation and seeking re-election.
With three vacancies and three candidates, an election will still need to take place as rules stipulate that a candidate must get at least 50.01% of the votes to be elected.
But with no one challenging the status quo, it seems farmers shareholders are happy with the direction of their co-op.
This also bodes well for the capital structure revamp, spearheaded by McBride, It will need 75% support from voting farmers at the co-op's AGM next month to pass.
According to Zespri's November forecast for the 2025/26 season, returns are likely to be up for all fruit groups compared to the last forecast in August.
Next month, wool training will reach one of New Zealand's most remote communities, the Chatham Islands - bringing hands-on skills and industry connection to locals eager to step into the wool harvesting sector.
Farmers' health and wellbeing will take centre stage with a new hub at the 2026 East Coast Farming Expo.
Dannevirke farmer Dan Billing has been announced as the new national chair of Beef + Lamb New Zealand's (B+LNZ) Farmer Council.
A Mid Canterbury beef farm has unlocked a new market for its products thanks to its unusual beef breed, and an award-winning pie taking the district by storm.
The number of beef straws going into dairy cows is on the increase, according to LIC beef genetics product lead Paul Charteris.