Farmers' call
OPINION: Fonterra's $4.22 billion consumer business sale to Lactalis is ruffling a few feathers outside the dairy industry.
The latest dairy auction has seen the dairy index up for the second time in a row, in what will be a welcome result for dairy farmers.
The GDT price index rose 10.9% at last night’s auction, to US$2,226/MT.
The biggest gains were seen for Butter Milk Powder, which rose a massive 30% to an average price of US$1,829/MT.
Whole Milk Powder also gained ground, climbing 12.1% to US$2,078/MT.
Anhydrous Milk Fat and Skim Milk Powder were both up 11.7%, with average prices of US$3,029/MT and US$1,698/MT respectively.
Most other products also saw an increase, with Butter rising 8.1% to US$2,746/MT, followed by Rennet Casein up 6.3% with an average price of US$5,779/MT and Cheddar was up 4.7% to US$2,913/MT.
Lactose was the only product to lose ground, falling 4.0%, to an average price of US$483/MT.
The auction saw a total of 35,865 MT sold.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
Environment Southland's catchment improvement funding is once again available for innovative landowners in need of a boost to get their project going.
The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
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Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.
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