Another record milk price for Tatua suppliers
Independent Waikato milk processor Tatua has set another new record for conventional farmgate milk price paid to New Zealand farmers.
Independent milk processor Tatua has again shown Fonterra and other milk processors a clean pair of heels in the milk payout race.
The small Morrinsville processor has paid its farmer suppliers a record $12.30/kgMS for milk supplied last season. The previous season, it paid farmers $11.30/kgMS.
Tatua retained $2.90/kgMS for reinvestment last season compared to $1.35/kgMS the previous one.
Fonterra and Synlait have paid their suppliers a milk price of $8.22/kgMS. Fonterra also paid a dividend of 50c/share and recently returned another 50c/share to shareholders and unitholders, taking its total payout to $9.22/share-backed kgMS. Synlait also paid on average of $0.27/kgMS for incentives, taking its total average milk payment to $8.49/kgMS.
In a joint statement, Tatua chairman Stephen Allen and chief executive Brendhan Greaney say they are pleased to report that the business has had another good year.
“In deciding our payout, we have sought to balance the needs of our shareholders farming businesses, in an environment where costs have increased well beyond mainstream inflation, and our need to continue to invest in the business while also maintaining balance sheet strength.”
The new majority owner of meat company Alliance has no plans to close any processing plants. Instead, Dawn Meats plans to extract more value from Alliance's existing footprint.
Westpac NZ has announced new initiatives that aim to give customers more options to do their banking in person.
New Zealand red meat exports experienced a 29% increase year-on-year in September, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
The head of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) biosecurity operation, Stuart Anderson, has defended the cost and the need for a Plant Healht and Environment Laboratory (PHEL) being built in Auckland.
BNZ says its new initiative, helping make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier, is being well received by customers and rural professionals.
The head of Fonterra's R&D facility in Palmerston North is set to literally cross the road and become the new vice chancellor at Massey University.