A Chinese company financing a multi million-dollar sheep milk venture near Taupo plans to build processing plants in other regions.

Farmlands Cooperative has bought into the farm software firm FarmIQ, a developer of software for farming and agribusiness.

A young dairy farming couple have increased their equity by at least $500,000 in two-three years on a less-than-ideal Far North farm and despite two years of low dairy payout.

Sadly, our cooperative has lost one of our strongest people with former director Michael Spaans passing away last week.

The future of once-a-day milking was talked up recently at a DairyNZ discussion group near Otaki.

The Ministry for Primary Industries says “suspicious” test results for the bacterial cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis on two more farms in the South Canterbury region are not dashing hopes for containment and eradication.

The possibility is still “very alive” that New Zealand will get on board the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, says trade expert and consultant Stephen Jacobi.

The next push for Zespri will be further creating demand ahead of supply and getting the best value out of the company’s global structure, says the new chief executive Dan Mathieson.

Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dean Hamilton will leave the company end of the year.

Rotary milking machines are becoming more popular worldwide, says DeLaval executive vice-president milking systems Jonas Hallman.