Risky business
OPINION: In the same way that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, economists sometimes get it right.
OPINION: This old mutt well remembers the wailing, whining and gnashing of teeth by former West Coast MP and Labour Agriculture Minister Damian O’Connor when Chineseowned Yili took over the troubled dairy company Westland Milk a few years back.
O’Connor claimed it would be end of the world and West Coast dairy farmers would be the losers.
However, it seems – like his election result last October – the only loser in this case is O’Connor.
The company recently notched up its second impressive annual result in a row, with a 43.7% lift in net profit to $55.9 million in 2023.
It was also above 2022’s $38.9m record-breaking result and a $120m rebound from 2021.
Since Yili bought the once troubled company in 2019, former shareholder farmers have not only had record profits but also received a cash payment of $3.41 a share and a 10-year guaranteed competitive milk payout.
The chair of Beef + Lamb NZ, Kate Acland says the rush appears to be on to purchase farms and convert them to forestry before new rules limiting this come into effect.
New Zealand farmers will face higher urea prices this year, mainly on the back of tight global supply and a weak Kiwi dollar.
Andy Caughey of Wool Impact says a lot of people in NZ have been saying it's crazy that we are not using natural fibres in our buildings and houses.
Former chief executive of Beef+Lamb New Zealand Scott Champion will head the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) from July.
Avian flu getting into New Zealand's poultry industry is the biosecurity threat that is most worrying for Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard.
The annual domestic utilisation of wool will double to 30,000 tonnes because of the edict that government agencies should use woollen fibre products in the construction of new and refurbished buildings.
OPINION: In the same way that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, economists sometimes get it right.
OPINION: The proposed RMA reforms took a while to drop but were well signaled after the election.