Data sharing initiative wins national award for saving farmers time
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
A small but select group of Fonterra farmers are on the cusp of setting a new milk payout record.
The co-op’s 60 organic milk suppliers are forecast to receive $9.80/kgMS for last season’s milk. A final wash-up payment in October could potentially take that payout into double digits – over the $10 mark – a first for New Zealand dairy industry.
Fonterra global business manager organic, Andrew Henderson told Dairy News that the last season had been an “incredibly good year” for the co-op’s organic business.
Henderson believes a payout over $10/kgMS farmgate milk price is highly likely – based on returns from sales.
Fonterra has a small niche organic business – just 60 fully certified organic suppliers supplying 5 million kgMS last season.
The co-op recently held a round of farmer meetings to update organic suppliers on the global market outlook. It also unveiled a new logo for its organics business.
Henderson says the feedback from farmer suppliers has been positive.
“They are very happy with the record payout and very supportive of the business,” Henderson told Dairy News.
Fonterra’s organics business has evaded any negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic raging around the world.
![]() |
---|
Fonterra’s organic milk. |
Henderson says demand for organic dairy products has gone up in recent months.
Reports from retailers in key markets – the US, Australia and South Korea – suggest there has been increased demand for organic products as consumers focus on health and wellness during the pandemic.
“The outlook for organics is positive,” Henderson says.
Fonterra’s organic story is a positive one, propped by grass-fed cows and cost-effective farming practices.
Henderson says co-op has one of the best milk stories in the world, with brands that are trusted by consumers around the globe.
Fonterra’s organic suppliers are based throughout the North Island with most milk is processed in Waikato. The Waitoa plant makes organic milk powders and UHT milk, the Morrinsville plant butter and milk powders, while Hautapu produces cheese, whey protein concentrates and milk protein concentrates. Anchor organic milk is generated at Palmerton North.
The list of organic milk suppliers is growing. This season Fonterra will collect organic milk from 74 suppliers and about 25 additional farms are in the process of becoming organic farms, a process that takes three years.
UDSA standard
Fonterra's organic certification is linked to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards.
Henderson says the USDA organic standards are one of the toughest in the world.
Fonterra’s main markets for organics are the US, South Korea and Australia.
While the co-op doesn’t export organic products to China, sales in NZ and Australia “end up in China”, Henderson told Dairy News.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its…
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content…