"Our" business?
OPINION: One particular bone the Hound has been gnawing on for years now is how the chattering classes want it both ways when it comes to the success of NZ's dairy industry.
Fonterra chairman John Wilson says from a Fonterra governance perspective and the way the cooperative manages its business, its balance sheet is strong.
He also claims it has strong treasury policies on interest and foreign exchange risk. “So our position is very strong,” he says.
Hedging is managed through careful foreign exchange (FX) policy and everything is being run normally. “You will see that when the year-end results are released at the end of September; what our average exchange rate has been at the end of the year. And I think you will note at that time our treasury function performed very well in what has been a unique environment.
“We hedge in a very volatile environment, both for commodity prices and FX; and across financial markets and commodity markets generally we use a hedging policy to assist us to provide appropriate foresight in our forecasting for farmers and to manage the risk of volatility.”
Asked if they had rented warehouse space to stockpile milk powder as in 2008, Spierings says on the contrary they had had “an extremely strong July month of shipments”.
Spierings says the $500-600m capital spending reduction in the 2015-16 season will come from phasing new building and phasing offshore investment in farming, notwithstanding the essential investments needed to keep farms going in NZ.
He says they are in a strong position and there are no pressures on liquidity at the moment.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
A tiny organism from the arid mountains of mainland Greece is facilitating a new way of growing healthier animals on farms across New Zealand.
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