How farmers make spring count
OPINION: Spring is a critical season for farmers – a time when the right decisions can set the tone for productivity and profitability throughout the year.
Fertiliser co-operative Ballance’s revenue and gross profit tumbled last year as the co-op prioritised passing on price and cost savings to customers through the year.
The co-op’s revenue slipped from $1.2 billion last year to $929m for year ended May 31, 2024. Profit before tax also slumped, from $46.5m last year to $17.2m. The drop in sales reflected lower commodity prices and decreased sales volumes to 1.16m tonnes from continuing operations, Ballance says.
However, Ballance finished the financial year with a closing inventory of 281kiloton (281million kg), 37% lower than the previous year.
The lower working capital and sale of SealesWinslow business to Farmlands enabled $69m reduction in debt. The co-op also spent $69m in capital expenditure on co-op assets.
The Ballance board decided not to pay any rebate for the second consecutive year.
Ballance chair Duncan Coull says that facing another year of headwinds for the co-operative and its shareholders, Ballance prioritised debt reduction and passing on price and cost savings to customers through the year.
“We moved a number of times to provide affordable nutrients to our shareholders, absorbing commodity price effects internally in order to do so,” explains Coull.
In his first year as Ballance chief executive, Kelvin Wickham says key priorities were improving operational efficiency while maintaining a strong focus on health and safety.
“We continued to invest in our assets with $69 million of capital expenditure this year towards plant maintenance and upgrades to improve efficiency. Alongside continued investment in health and safety, this meant there wasn’t a lot left over,” says Wickham.
“We also had a focus on working capital and reduced inventory by 165kt, down 37% from the prior year”.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
If there was a silver lining in the tragedy that was Cyclone Gabrielle, for New Zealand Young Grower of the Year, Grace Fulford, it was the tremendous sense of community and seeing first-hand what good leadership looks like.
New research could help farmers prepare for a future where summer rainfall is increasingly unpredictable and where drought risk is rising, no matter what.
The first calves of a new crossbred dairy-beef offering are now on the ground at a Pamu (Landcorp) farm near Taupo.
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