DairyNZ announces levy referendum date
DairyNZ has announced the date for its upcoming Milksolids Levy vote.
Sharing knowledge on New Zealand farming systems needs to be on a win-win basis, says DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle.
Mackle told farmers at the Northland Dairy Development Trust annual general meeting that New Zealand was no longer the lowest cost country in terms of production.
One member of the audience commented that with the countries now beating us on cost, because Kiwis had gone out and shown them how to farm New Zealand style. Visitors also came here and were hosted by DairyNZ and others.
"We show them how to improve their cost of production – so where are we headed with this?" she asked.
"We show people how to set up farms and how to farm better. Do we have to think about how open we are?"
Mackle said it was a difficult question with many different arguments.
"On one side, why should we make it easy? We (DairyNZ) do have visitors but they are 99% of the time collaborative partners – which we can learn from," he said.
Mackle says he is really tight on granting visits which are signed off at a very high level at DairyNZ.
"It is not so much about giving things away, it's we need our people to be working ... it's their time, it's precious, we don't have that many scientists, we don't have that many people – they've got to spend their time working on stuff for New Zealand levy payers.
"We have tightened up. At the same time, there are situations from a market perspective where you do have to show a bit of good faith and good will because we are trading as well."
Mackle said the first priority is focussing on doing as much as they can for levy payers.
"When you do buddy up and partner with others; you do know it's got to be a win-win."
Fonterra has unveiled the first refrigerated electric truck to deliver dairy products across Auckland.
Research and healthcare initiatives, leadership and dedication to the sector have been recognised in the 2025 Horticulture Industry Awards.
Virtual fencing and pasture management company Halter says its NZ operations has delivered a profit of $2.8 million after exclusion of notional items.
Manuka honey trader Comvita slumped to a $104 million net loss last financial year, reflecting prolonged market disruption, oversupply and pricing volatility.
The Government has struck a deal with New Zealand's poultry industry, agreeing how they will jointly prepare for and respond to exotic poultry diseases, including any possible outbreak of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI).
The conversion of productive farmland into trees has pretty much annihilated the wool industry.