Farmers investing in sustainability - Westpac
New Zealand farmers are committed to making their businesses more resilient to climate change and are embracing innovation to help them do so.
Milk processor Synlait claims that despite a poor financial result, it delivered several sustainability successes in the last financial year.
The listed company, last week, released its sustainability report for 2023.
Highlights include getting recertified as a B corporation, the gold standard accreditation globally for sustainability.
Another key recertification success in 2023 was achieving the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) re-registration, which secures Synlait's China market infant formula access through until September 2027.
On relationships with its farmer suppliers, Synlait says it established its Farmer Leadership Team, which provides the company with a direct conduit to its farmer base.
In 2023, the dairy company also became one of the founding shareholders in AgriZeroNZ, a technology and research partnership between Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and some of New Zealand's largest agribusinesses. Its aim is to give farmers the tools to reduce their own on-farm emissions, such as methane vaccines, alternative feed, and ruminant biotech, to help New Zealand meet agricultural emissions reduction targets.
Writing in the company's sustainability report, chief executive Grant Watson says it has been an extremely challenging year for the company.
"We delivered a poor financial result due to challenging global market conditions, including material reductions in customer demand, CO2 shortages, extreme weather events, the Covid-19 pandemic, inflationary impacts on our cost base, and costs associated with the launch and stabilisation of our enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
"Despite these challenges, our team delivered several sustainability successes that I am proud to celebrate in this report."
Watson claims maintaining its B Corp status demonstrates to customers that the dairy processor is committed to considering the impact of decisions on workers, customers, farmers, suppliers, community and the environment.
"It is increasingly requested by Synlait's global customers and is a competitive differentiator in sales negotiations," Watson says.
He adds that the SAMR re-registration, is critical to its largest customer, the a2 Milk Company, and provides a strong foundation to their partnership.
Tough Times Ahead
Financial advisory firm Forsyth Barr is now forecasting a full-year net loss of $3.5 million for Synlait.
This is down from the company's previous forecast of $11.8 million profit for the troubled dairy processor.
Meanwhile, Synlait and a2MC remain in arbitration over the exclusivity of their infant formula manufacturing and supply deal.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has informed staff it will cut 391 jobs following a consultation period.