MastaPlex Names Dr Matt Dobbs Independent Director
Dunedin-based company MastaPlex, which provides on-farm mastitis diagnostic platform globally, has named a new independent director.
Your old mate wonders if there’s something in the water that’s caused the recent raft of departures – some sudden – of many top executives in the agri sector.
Since new year we’ve noted the hurried exit of Brent Isler as chief executive of Farmlands, Wools of NZ chief executive Ross Townshend exiting stage left, the announcement that Peter Silcock from Hort NZ is leaving the role he has held with the industry good body for the past 10 years, and the strange and weird situation at Fonterra with last month’s sudden resignation of Pascal De Petrini, the managing director of its Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) business unit, and a member of Fonterra’s management team.
Fonterra’s 2026 financial year was a year of delivery, with record volumes of milk collected, processed and shipped by the co-op.
OPINION: The Government's decision to reinstate agriculture and horticultural science as a standalone subject from Year 11 is the right one.
Dairy farmers, still holding onto their Fonterra shares despite switching milk supply elsewhere or exiting the industry, now face a stricter share sell-down requirement.
Hamilton-based agritech company Aimer Farming has completed a $3 million capital raise to support its next stage of growth, including a beef farming product due to launch in 2027.
When dairy manager Miriam Lauridsen learned the farm, she was joining held weekly health and safety meetings, she initially thought that was “a bit over the top”. Experiencing that culture changed her mind.
Nominations are open for the 2027 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year Award.

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