North Otago farmer Jane Smith standing for Ravensdown board seat
North Otago farmer Jane Smith is standing for the Ravensdown South Island director seat.
A drop in sales is forcing fertiliser co-operative Ravensdown to review its organisational structure and staffing level.
Chief executive Garry Diack says it has begun consulting with potentially impacted employees and their representatives.
The number of employees set to lose their jobs will be finalised by the end of this month.
Diack says the last 18 months for food and fibre production in New Zealand have been challenging.
“Weather disruption and increasing costs (fuel, interest rates, and volatile fertiliser prices), means farmers and growers across New Zealand are buying significantly less fertiliser,” he says.
“Our projected sales volumes for this financial year are looking to be significantly down on the previous financial year, and it is unlikely that fertiliser demand will return to traditional levels in the immediate term.
‘In light of these challenges Ravensdown has reviewed our business model to realign it with reduced demand, and to ensure continued investment in capabilities required for future support of our farmers and growers.”
Diack says Ravensdown has a strong balance sheet, and this review is designed to realign its operating model and capabilities to changes in the industry and market.
“To be clear, this is not a consequence of the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on our Hawke’s Bay operation at Awatoto.
“We are actively planning for a resumption of manufacturing at Awatoto in the near future following rejuvenation of the site from flooding, and we remain committed to the region as a significant employer and partner.”
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.