It's all about economics
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.
OPINION: Will synthetic milk derail NZ's economy?
According to media reports, professor of econiomics at Auckland University of Technology, Niven Winchester, believes further development of synthetic milk could seriously disrupt the entire economy.
The scale of disruption though would vary, and there is slow progress at present towards making synthetic milk economic. Even so, dangers lie around the corner, according to Wichester.
"Large-scale production of synthetic dairy products - that decreases the price of New Zealand's largest export commodity - will have a significant negative impact on this economy," Winchester says.
This issue has arisen after years of analysis which argues that putting grass into a cow is wasteful because a lot of the output is diverted into growth of the animal. The claims is, putting a feedstock such as sugar into a test tube could produce milk which has less waste and lower environmental side effects.
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.