Michelle Pye elected to Fonterra board
Canterbury farmer Michelle Pye has been elected to Fonterra’s board for a three-year term.
Fonterra’s lift in its payout to $6/kgMS puts a brighter note on the end of a tough week for farming.
Federated Farmers dairy chair Andrew Hoggard says this will be a huge boost to dairy farmers’ spirits after a difficult spring.
"The weather’s been kicking our guts over the last few months and that’s on top of what everyone knows has been a tough couple of years,” Hoggard says.
"This is going to boost everyone’s morale."
The announcement equates to about an extra 75 cents for the season.
"It’s good news. We are going to see dairy farmers feeling a lot more positive over the next couple of months, which is good news for the entire New Zealand economy," Hoggard says.
Thirty years ago, as a young sharemilker, former Waikato farmer Snow Chubb realised he was bucking a trend when he started planting trees to provide shade for his cows, but he knew the animals would appreciate what he was doing.
Virtual fencing and herding systems supplier, Halter is welcoming a decision by the Victorian Government to allow farmers in the state to use the technology.
DairyNZ’s latest Econ Tracker update shows most farms will still finish the season in a positive position, although the gap has narrowed compared with early season expectations.
New Zealand’s national lamb crop for the 2025–26 season is estimated at 19.66 million head, a lift of one percent (or 188,000 more lambs) on last season, according to Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s (B+LNZ) latest Lamb Crop report.
Farmers appear to be cautiously welcoming the Government’s plan to reform local government, according to Ag First chief executive, James Allen.
The Fonterra divestment capital return should provide “a tailwind to GDP growth” next year, according to a new ANZ NZ report, but it’s not “manna from heaven” for the economy.