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Under pressure: Fonterra shareholders council chair Duncan Coull; board chair John Wilson and chief executive Theo Spierings face journalists after the annual meeting.
Fonterra farmers are looking forward to higher returns as a result of the co-op's capital expenditure.
Shareholders Council chairman Duncan Coull says farmers have contributed their capital to support the strategy.
"It is now very important that these strategic initiatives are backed by tangible returns to our farmers on the investments they have made in the co-op," he told the annual meeting.
He says farmers are backing Fonterra's strategy of shifting more milk into higher returning products. "We can already see this working in the first quarter results announced recently."
He noted the co-op had used its strength to help farmers during a tough year, increasing earnings in the second half and raising advance payments.
"This demonstrated the co-op using its strength to help farmers when they needed it the most," Coull said.
Chief executive Theo Spierings told shareholders the co-op must "stay the course" despite market uncertainty.
He said the recent events in Europe, including the shooting down of a Russian plane by Turkey, are further compounding the markets. So Fonterra needs to stay the course and stay focussed on strategy.
"We look at things we're doing well and do them faster; things we're not doing well we need to improve on," he says. "These are the things we can control; we can't control the other things happening around the world."
In the past, much has been made of the concept of farm to fork, but an Australian expert in food science and marketing with experience in the dairy industry, Dr Angeline Achariya, says the reverse of this slogan is critical to win modern day consumers.
A four year trial has reaffirmed that mixing plantain into dairy pastures can help reduce nitrogen losses to freshwater while maintaining milk production and profitability, say researchers.
Fonterra has opened its upgraded Chengdu Application Centre, bringing New Zealand dairy expertise closer to customers in one of China's fastest-growing regions.
Tatua chair Stephen Allen says he leaves the co-op with a deep sense of gratitude for the people who have contributed to its success.
Federated Farmers president Colin Hurst and his family raised a glass of milk last week to toast the start of a new addition to their farming operation at Makihihi, south of Timaru.
New Zealand's pest problem has reached crisis point, according to Federated Farmers' second National Pests Survey, which shows farmers are spending more money and effort on control — yet pest numbers keep climbing faster than they were two years ago.
Testing confirms H5 bird flu in a single northern giant petrel, found dead on a remote Cape Palliser beach in the Wairarapa, says Dr Mary van Andel, the Ministry for Primary Industries' (MPI) Chief Veterinary Officer.
"What's for dinner?" may sound like a simple question, but for many Kiwi parents, answering it has become a job in itself.
Fifty Eight years ago, on the 16th of August 1968, August Claas, the founder of the harvesting company and father of Helmut Claas, personally presented a Claas Senator combine harvester to Scottish farmer John Steven.
New Zealand consumers are paying more for beef mince than ever before, with the average retail price now sitting above $24 per kilogram, according to Rabobank.
State farmer Pamu has delivered its strongest operating result on record.
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