Long-serving Miraka chairman, board members step down
The man largely responsible for setting up Miraka, the country’s first Māori dairy company, is stepping down.
A STEADY stream of containers loaded with UHT milk are now leaving the Miraka dairy factory near Taupo heading for the China market.
The Chinese dairy giant Shanghai Pengxin has contracted Miraka to produce the UHT milk in 250ml branded packs for Chinese consumers.
The Miraka plant has the capacity produce 240 million of the packs annually which requires an additional 60m L of milk to be processed by Miraka in addition to 240m L processed into milk powder.
The new UHT plant cost $27 million.
Miraka chief executive Richard Wyeth says the company has employed 30 extra staff to produce the UHT for Shanghai Pengxin. Some of this milk used in the UHT deal comes from farms owned by Shanghai Pengxin and some from regular Miraka suppliers.
“It’s good to be underway and shipping regularly to our Chinese clients. We had a slower start than I would have liked but that’s the nature of commissioning plants sometimes and we are now up and running and I am happy with the process,” he says.
The UHT plant is designed to take additional Tetrapak lines as markets develop. At present two lines are operating to meet the demand from Shanghai Pengxin. Miraka is seeking to expand its UHT operation in the next two-three years and two extra processing lines are likely to be commissioned.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
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