increase font size
Balance is returning $57 million to its more than 18,500 farmer-shareholders.
Nutrient supplier Ballance Agri-Nutrients has posted an annual gross profit of $72.5 million, 4% better than last year’s result.
The co-op will pay its 18,500 farmer shareholders a rebate of $45 per tonne for the financial year ended 31 May 2019, returning $57 million to its more than 18,500 farmer-shareholders.
Ballance says its financial results are the product of an unwavering focus on supporting farmers, and the evolution of farming, as a strength for this country.
Chairman, David Peacocke says a year-on-year lift in performance since FY2016 has been built on a collaborative approach, working with selected partners in New Zealand and suppliers around the world.
“Everything we do is geared to ensuring Kiwi farmers have access to the very best nutrients and advice to achieve outstanding agronomic results, stay competitive globally and drive sustainability in their businesses.
“This is a hallmark and what a cooperative is all about – supporting our farmers and helping them adapt and evolve so that they’re future-ready,” Mr Peacocke says.
Total sales for the year – including nutrient products, animal feeds and industrial ingredients – were flat on FY2018 at 1.64 million tonnes, with the manufacturing margin achieved against rising international urea prices being a key contributor to Ballance’s financial performance this year.
Peacocke says increased retentions of $12 million are earmarked for accelerating the development of high-value digital platforms and services, ongoing investment in the cooperative’s distribution network to deliver improved service capability, and expansion of topdressing services particularly to meet demand for precision aerial application enabled by Spreadsmarttechnology.
Ballance’s re-investment capex of $87 million in FY2019 is more than double the typical spend for the cooperative – reflecting a “sustained programme of investment to evolve both our bricks and mortar shopfront, and also our ecommerce capability and tools for our customers”, says chief executive, Mark Wynne.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients has released its latest fertiliser outlook, detailing some of the current global trends influencing fertiliser supply. Ballance head of procurement Shane Crean takes part in a Q&A in the report:
Ballance Agrinutrients chief executive Kelvin Wickham says despite a tough year, he is pleased the business has returned to profit.
OPINION: New Zealand agriculture has always been built on partnerships.
OPINION: For many Kiwi farmers, the nutrients our farmers need simply arrive when they are needed, get applied when conditions suit, and are largely viewed as one part of the rhythm of the farming year.
OPINION: It's pretty easy to poke fun at Generation Z.
The Opportunity Party has faced criticism during the election campaign that its policies are too urban-focused and offer little for rural communities.
The chair of the country's environmental regulator, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), says changes are already under way to improve the performance of the agency to better meet the needs of those who interface with them.
Alliance Group's $16 million programme to install innovative heat pump systems at its Otago and Southland processing plants wins a New Zealand Energy Excellence Award after cutting annual emissions by more than 24,000 tonnes of CO₂e.
The arable sector losing good people and land is a major concern for the 2026 Arable Farmers of the Year, Mid Canterbury seed growers John and Mel McCaw.
The terrible floods that hit the Wairarapa may have subsided, but the danger to farmers still exists, according to local Federated Farmers president Rob Hickson.
Bigger, bolder salads packed with colour, crunch and flavour are making headlines overseas — and the arrival of fresh spring vegetables means New Zealanders can now get chopping too, creating their own Great Kiwi Spring Salad.
OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities…
OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in…
