Silver Fern Farms roadshow highlights global demand
The second event in the Silver Fern Farms ‘Pasture to Plate Roadshow’ landed in Feilding last week, headed by chair and King Country farmer, Anna Nelson, and chief executive Dan Boulton.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recently turned the first sod at Silver Fern Farms' Beflast (Christchurch) meat works for a project slated as a major step in the company's ambition to become coal-free by 2030.
The Belfast Hot Temperature Pump will be a heat pump harnessing waste heat from the refrigeration process to heat hot water for other parts of the plant's operation.
It is expected to slash about 8% off the company's total coal consumption by replacing 1,500 tonnes of coal a year and abate 59,000 tonnes of carbon across its lifetime.
About half of the $1.6 million cost is coming from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) fund.
Funding has also been secured for similar pumps at SFF's Finegand and Pareora plants.
Jacinda Ardern told VIPs and Belfast plant workers at the launch that some have called the GIDI scheme "corporate welfare" but she considers it a direct partnership that has had "huge" potential.
The new majority owner of meat company Alliance has no plans to close any processing plants. Instead, Dawn Meats plans to extract more value from Alliance's existing footprint.
Westpac NZ has announced new initiatives that aim to give customers more options to do their banking in person.
New Zealand red meat exports experienced a 29% increase year-on-year in September, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
The head of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) biosecurity operation, Stuart Anderson, has defended the cost and the need for a Plant Healht and Environment Laboratory (PHEL) being built in Auckland.
BNZ says its new initiative, helping make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier, is being well received by customers and rural professionals.
The head of Fonterra's R&D facility in Palmerston North is set to literally cross the road and become the new vice chancellor at Massey University.

OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…