Medals galore for Fonterra cheeses
Fonterra cheeses are continuing their golden run at the annual New Zealand Cheese Awards.
Westland says discussions with interested parties centered on a competitive milk price, milk pick-up and a fair value for co-op shares.
Chairman Pete Morrison won’t comment on unsuccessful bidders, saying “it was a confidential process”.
This month Fonterra confirmed that it held talks with Westland to find “a co-op solution”. But the talks broke down.
Morrison was asked if he could talk about discussions with Fonterra.
“The key for us is a guarantee that milk would be picked up from one end of the West Coast to another, a guaranteed competitive payout like the rest of NZ was getting and top value for our shares,” he says.
Fonterra chairman John Monaghan says it had “a very early discussion with Westland about finding a co-op solution to the position they found themselves in”.
“We weren’t able to progress and they went into another process.”
Monaghan expressed sadness at the “demise of another co-op” and said Fonterra would welcome any Westland suppliers willing to continue supplying milk to a co-op.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.