Misguided campaign
OPINION: Last week, Greenpeace lit up Fonterra's Auckland headquarters with 'messages from the common people' - that the sector is polluting the environment.
More bad news for dairy farmers as the latest Global Dairy Trade auction saw the average price index slip by 2.2% to $2,472.
It is the fifth consecutive fall this year with most products seeing a decrease.
Cheddar saw the biggest drop, down 7.1% with an average price of US$2,745/MT. This was followed by Anhydrous Milk Fat down 4.8% at US$3,337/MT and Skim Milk Powder down by 3.6% to US$1,992/MT.
Butter fell by 3.2%, average price US$2,911/MT.
Whole Milk Powder, a key product for Fonterra also saw a minor drop of 0.5% average price US$2,390/MT, with Rennet Casein down 0.4% to US$6,067/MT.
The two products to gain ground were Butter Milk Powder, up 3.2%, to US$1,930/MT and Lactose up 0.9% to US$580/MT.
Some 26,553 tonnes of product was sold, down from the 27,369 tonnes sold in the May 6 auction two weeks ago.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).