Yili opens 'Dairy Silicon Valley'
Chinese dairy giant Yili has launched a multi-billion dollar industrial park in Hohhot, China.
It was 25 years ago that Milfos International was formed and this week the company will celebrate the milestone with an Australasian dealer conference followed by an evening celebration with service partners, suppliers and business people from around New Zealand.
Philip and Nicola Locke started the business in 1987 and today it is jointly owned with Jamie Mikkelson and Rick Staheli. The business started out manufacturing parts for milking systems and now exports to more than 20 countries around the globe. Today the business offers a wide range of high tech milking solutions for farmers milking cows, sheep and goats. The business has company owned entities in Australia, the UK and Ireland.
The business, located in Hamilton and employing over 120 staff, continues to experience significant growth. In 2011 the company won the Gallagher Waikato Business of the Year award for large enterprises employing over 50 staff.
Milfos Managing Director Jamie Mikkelson says, "We are very excited about reaching this milestone and celebrating it with our partners. It is a time to reflect on our short history, celebrate our successes and plot the way forward as a group. We are incredibly proud of our achievements and the hard work that our team puts in every day serving our customers".
Retiring Fonterra director Andy Macfarlane believes the co-operative has made good progress over the past decade but adds that there's still a way to go.
Visiting US climate change expert Dr Will Happer says the idea of reducing cow numbers to greatly reduce methane emissions is crazy.
Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping "The Twelve Days of Christmas" for "The Twelve Pests of Christmas" in an effort to highlight the most troublesome farm pests.
The Rapid Relief Team (RRT) has given farmers in the Tararua District a boost as they rebuild following recent storms.
The Government is set to announce two new acts to replace the contentious Resource Management Act (RMA) with the Prime Minister hinting that consents required by farmers could reduce by 46%.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change would be “a really dumb move”.

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