New Zealand Sign Language Week Highlights Inclusion at Fonterra Clandeboye
Last week marked New Zealand Sign Language Week and a South Canterbury tanker operator is sharing what it's like to be deaf in a busy Fonterra depot.
State farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) has announced it will pay a $10 million special dividend to the Crown off the back of a strong outlook for the business and a capital repayment of $9.5 million following Fonterra's consumer business sale.
The special dividend is separate from Pāmu’s standard dividend policy and reflects a non-operating capital receipt, rather than core trading activity.
Including the special dividend, Pāmu will have paid $25 million in dividends to the Crown in the 2025/26 financial year.
Mark Leslie, chief executive of Pāmu, says the payment is reflective of disciplined capital management and continued balance sheet resilience.
"Strong performance across the business has delivered a net operating profit of $26 million at the half year, with Pāmu on track for a record full-year profit of between $97 million and $107 million," Leslie says.
"As we reach the midpoint of our five-year reset, this performance has given the board confidence to make this payment," he adds.
Leslie says that in the past three years the state farmer has focused on lifting on-farm performance, improving productivity, and running a tighter, more disciplined business.
"The results we're seeing reflect the commitment and hard work of our teams across the country," he says.
"As a State-Owned Enterprise, Pāmu manages its land and farming portfolio to deliver a financial return, return land under Te Tiriti o Waitangi settlements, and grow the future of agriculture for generations of New Zealanders," Leslie says.
"Our strong commercial performance requires high people, environmental, and animal welfare outcomes, as well as responsibility for the communities in which we operate."
Developing pasture species that enable farm animals to produce less biogenic methane and nitrous oxide is a critical tool in NZ's quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).
DairyNZ chief executive Campbell Parker says the winners of this year’s New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are leading the way in productivity, sustainability and profitability.
A dinner, debate and auction event with a difference held for the first time in 2025 is back by popular demand to celebrate the start of Fieldays 2026.
Federated Farmers has been urged to consider establishing a policy on artificial intelligence (AI).
As the Agri Women’s Development Trust (AWDT) begins the process of winding down, the organisation’s general manager Julia Jones says there’s still a place for its programmes within the industry.
Southland farmers staring down a May deadline to submit freshwater farm plans under current regional plan rules have been given an 18-month reprieve by the Government.

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