Westpac expands community banking with new vans and extended branch hours
Westpac NZ has announced new initiatives that aim to give customers more options to do their banking in person.
Commenting on last night Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction results, Gordon says there was a mild 0.4% fall in dairy prices.
“The product mix was effectively a mirror image of the previous auction, with a 2.6% rise in whole milk powder prices but declines for most other products.
“We’re expecting a modest fall in dairy prices over the rest of this year, as global milk production bounces back from last year’s depressed levels. Global demand continues to grow at a subdued pace, and stockpiles of milk powder remain substantial, especially in Europe.
“Russia recently extended its ban on food imports from the EU until the end of 2018, though it has yet to make a decision on the ban from other Western markets, which currently runs to the end of this year.”
Key Results AMF index down 3.5%, average price US$6,596/MT Butter index down 0.1%, average price US$5,775/MT BMP index up 10.8%, average price US$2,264/MT Ched index down 3.2%, average price US$4,051/MT LAC index down 3.3%, average price US$839/MT RenCas index down 2.7%, average price US$6,133/MT SMP index down 4.5%, average price US$2,090/MT WMP index up 2.6%, average price US$3,111/MTFederated Farmers says it is cautiously welcoming signals from the Government that a major shake-up of local government is on its way.
Ashburton cropping and dairy farmer Matthew Paton has been elected to the board of rural services company, Ruralco.
The global agricultural landscape has entered a new phase where geopolitics – not only traditional market forces – will dictate agricultural trade flows, prices, and production decisions.
National Lamb Day is set to return in 2026 with organisers saying the celebrations will be bigger than ever.
Fonterra has dropped its forecast milk price mid-point by 50c as a surge in global milk production is putting downward pressure on commodity prices.
The chance of a $10-plus milk price for this season appears to be depleting.

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