LIC ends year with $30.6m profit
Herd improvement company LIC has ended the 2024-25 financial year in a strong position - debt-free and almost quadrupling its net profit.
Irrigation New Zealand chief executive Vanessa Winning is stepping down after four years in the role.
The search for her replacement is underway and IrrigationNZ has advertised the vacancy. It says the CEO will build and maintain strong, mutually beneficial relationships with members, stakeholders and government, and actively seek opportunities to collaborate with other aligned sector organisations to deliver the best outcomes for the irrigation sector in New Zealand.
IrrigationNZ represents over 4500 members nationally, including irrigation schemes, individual irrigators, and the irrigation service sector.
"Our irrigator members include a wide range of farmers and growers: sheep and beef, dairy and cropping farmers, horticulturalists, winegrowers, as well as sports and recreational facilities and councils," it says.
"We also represent over 120 irrigation service industry members - manufacturers, distributors, irrigation design and install companies, and irrigation decision support services for both freshwater and effluent irrigation. We are a voluntary-membership, not-for-profit organisation whose vision is water to nourish our community, environment, and economy."
When American retail giant Cosco came to audit Open Country Dairy’s new butter plant at the Waharoa site and give the green light to supply their American stores, they allowed themselves a week for the exercise.
Fonterra chair Peter McBride says the divestment of Mainland Group is their last significant asset sale and signals the end of structural changes.
Thirty years ago, as a young sharemilker, former Waikato farmer Snow Chubb realised he was bucking a trend when he started planting trees to provide shade for his cows, but he knew the animals would appreciate what he was doing.
Virtual fencing and herding systems supplier, Halter is welcoming a decision by the Victorian Government to allow farmers in the state to use the technology.
DairyNZ’s latest Econ Tracker update shows most farms will still finish the season in a positive position, although the gap has narrowed compared with early season expectations.
New Zealand’s national lamb crop for the 2025–26 season is estimated at 19.66 million head, a lift of one percent (or 188,000 more lambs) on last season, according to Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s (B+LNZ) latest Lamb Crop report.

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