Silver Fern Farms roadshow highlights global demand
The second event in the Silver Fern Farms ‘Pasture to Plate Roadshow’ landed in Feilding last week, headed by chair and King Country farmer, Anna Nelson, and chief executive Dan Boulton.
OPINION: The Hound reckons that Rob “I’ll be chair, I don’t care where”’ Hewett will be looking forward to the Christmas break more than most – despite being named chair of the year at a recent business awards ceremony.
That’s because the two farmer co-ops Hewett chairs have both recently reported losses for the past year.
Silver Fern Farms posted a massive loss of $98 million and the struggling Farmlands a $700k loss.
For the self-confessed big ‘Jacinda fan’ and supposed top-notch businessman this is a pretty poor record.
Meanwhile, it seems the trouble at Farmlands is not just around its poor bottom-line performance but the co-op’s whole business model.
Shareholders, suppliers and customers seem very upset with the direction and ‘reconfiguring’ the business. ‘Chairman Rob’ also has the ongoing disaster that is Wool Impact, which seems to have done bugger all.
Legal controls on the movement of fruits and vegetables are now in place in Auckland’s Mt Roskill suburb, says Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis.
Arable growers worried that some weeds in their crops may have developed herbicide resistance can now get the suspected plants tested for free.
Fruit growers and exporters are worried following the discovery of a male Queensland fruit fly in Auckland this week.
Dairy prices have jumped in the overnight Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, breaking a five-month negative streak.
Alliance Group chief executive Willie Wiese is leaving the company after three years in the role.
A booklet produced in 2025 by the Rotoiti 15 trust, Department of Conservation and Scion – now part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute – aims to help people identify insect pests and diseases.

OPINION: The release of the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill to replace the Resource Management Act is a red-letter day…
OPINION: Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ for ‘The Twelve Pests of Christmas’ to…