Better days ahead for dairy
Dairy farmers struggling to breakeven can expect better prospects next season.
Corporate dairy farmer Southern Pastures has signed a three-year $50 million sustainability-linked farm loan with BNZ.
In a New Zealand first, Southern Pastures, which owns 20 farms, and Lewis Road Creamery, will receive financial incentives for meeting new water quality and biodiversity targets and for achieving further reductions in its already low on-farm carbon emissions.
Achievement of the targets will be directly linked to lower loan costs.
“This deal recognises that farming to mitigate climate change and environmental impacts is in our common interest,” says Southern Pastures executive chairman Prem Maan.
“In my view, farming in New Zealand should be driven by the ambition to become carbon neutral.”
Southern Pastures farms produce milk under an independently certified 10 Star Certified Values Program which stipulates strict environmental, climatic, animal and human welfare requirements. Its Waikato farms that supply Fonterra include the largest organic farm in the country.
“We use our organic farm, for example, to learn how to minimise antibiotic use,” says Maan.
“So we now use less antibiotics on all our farms than what is allowed under EU organic regulations.”
BNZ head of natural capital, Dana Muir, says Southern Pastures is a leader in the NZ primary sector with ambitious environmental goals.
It made sense to partner with them to show that capital incentives can deliver financial and environmental benefits.
“Like BNZ, Southern Pastures are driven to make a real difference improving New Zealand’s environment. The environmental targets linked to the loan are ambitious and go beyond compliance minimums – achieving them will require innovative on-farm planning, practices and reporting,” says Muir.
BNZ chief executive Angela Mentis says it has developed the innovative loan structure as part of its Sustainable Finance portfolio to help deliver carbon reductions and sustainable benefits in New Zealand.
She says that BNZ will increasingly seek to use Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-linked lending with New Zealand farmers, agribusinesses and other sectors to help meet New Zealand’s climate change obligations.
“Bold ESG initiatives not only help protect the environment and build Natural Capital but also increase the value of our consumer products globally and strengthen brand New Zealand.
“There is great work underway on New Zealand farms, throughout the primary sector and other sectors. We want to partner with businesses who are striving to go above and beyond compliance minimums and show what best practice in environmental management, labour and governance looks like,” she says.
As part of the loan arrangement, AsureQuality is acting as an independent on-farm auditor, visiting the farms on an annual basis to collect data and verify progress against targets. Discounts to interest rates will be applied during the term of the loan provided interim and final targets are met and verified.
AsureQuality’s environmental assurance lead, Simon Love, say it is using its expertise to turn environmental targets into measurable and auditable proof points.
Southern Pastures is a long-standing signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment and BNZ is a member of the Climate Leaders Coalition, a signatory to the Principles of Responsible Investment and committed to the United Nations Principles of Responsible Banking and the Collective Commitment to Climate Action.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.
OPINION: European farmers are going to extreme lengths to have their message heard.
OPINION: The hustle and bustle of one of Bangkok's most popular fast food outlets may feel a world away from…