Survey shows most Fonterra farmers plan to use capital return for debt reduction
A large slice of the $3.2 billion proposed capital return for Fonterra farmer shareholders could end up with the banks.
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."
BNZ says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through an innovative new initiative that helps make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier.
LIC chief executive David Chin says meeting the revised methane reduction targets will rely on practical science, smart technology, and genuine collaboration across the sector.
Lincoln University Dairy Farm will be tweaking some management practices after an animal welfare complaint laid in mid-August, despite the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigation into the complaint finding no cause for action.
A large slice of the $3.2 billion proposed capital return for Fonterra farmer shareholders could end up with the banks.
Opening a new $3 million methane research barn in Waikato this month, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay called on the dairy sector to “go as fast as you can and prove the concepts”.
According to ASB, Fonterra's plan to sell it's Anchor and Mainlands brands could inject $4.5 billion in additional spending into the economy.

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