25 years on - where are they now?
To celebrate 25 years of the Hugh Williams Memorial Scholarship, Ravensdown caught up with past recipients to see where their careers have taken them, and what the future holds for the industry.
Fertiliser co-op Ravensdown has used the opening of a new item of plant in Christchurch to announce two big financial sweeteners to its shareholders.
It will pay a $21/tonne advance on farmers' annual rebate, to be paid from June 7, and has cut the price of urea to $495/t, effective immediately.
Ravensdown announced this at the opening of a precision blending tower at its Hornby, Christchurch, facility last week.
It's the first time Ravensdown has, in effect, paid an 'interim dividend' – three months early. The remainder of the rebate will be paid at the usual time, around August, after completion of the financial accounts for the year 2015-16.
Chief executive Greg Campbell says it is a deliberate strategy to improve financial returns at the co-op while farmers face exceptionally tough times.
"It makes sense that, with lamb and dairy prices where they are and dry conditions wreaking havoc with some farms' growing conditions, we don't wait to make one payment but split it in two," he says.
"As a farmer-owned co-operative, we'd also be delighted if the early June rebate portion has a flow-on effect to help all farming sectors and other rural industries and communities."
Meanwhile, the immediate drop in urea and ammonium sulphate fertiliser prices to $495/t puts them below the psychological barrier of $500/t for the first time since 2006, and little more than half what it cost at its 2012 price peak.
The precision blending tower, the first in Australasia, is a $6 million upgrade to the co-op's Hornby plant; it has taken three years to plan and construct. The heart of the system is a 32m high mixing tower supplied by the American company Sackett and Son.
Ravensdown gutted part of its existing premises to accommodate the tower, which now protrudes a couple of storeys above the roof as a new landmark on the Hornby skyline.
The new machine offers rapid and accurate blending of fertilisers to precise custom formulations according to each farmer's needs. The mix is fed directly to a waiting delivery truck, minimising handling and dust. With a capacity of 250t/hour and a turnaround time of only six minutes per truck it is about three times faster than the older systems.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy officially opened the new plant, welcoming the investment as part of the drive to double primary sector export value by 2025.
He noted that Ravensdown and MPI were partners in the $10 million Pioneering to Precision programme which aims to improve fertiliser efficiency, and reduce waste and runoff, through highly accurate computerised assessment and application.
The CEO of Apples and Pears NZ, Karen Morrish, says the strategic focus of her organisation is to improve grower returns.
A significant breakthrough in understanding facial eczema (FE) in livestock brings New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s devastating impact on farmers, animals, and rural communities.
Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.
OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).
The 2024-25 season apple harvest has “well and truly exceeded expectations”, says Apples and Pears NZ chief executive Karen Morrish.
Through collaborative efforts with exhibitors, visitors, and industry partners, Fieldays says it is reaffirming its commitment to environmental responsibility with new initiatives for 2025.
OPINION: The Greens aren’t serious people when it comes to the economy, so let’s not spend too much on their…
OPINION: PM Chris Luxon is getting pinged lately for rolling out the old 'we're still a new government' line when…