Editorial: Sensible move
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.
The continued upward trend of the Global Dairy Trade auction and the modest increase in the payout announced on Wednesday and now Thursday’s positive earnings result from Fonterra should help dairy farmers feel more confident about the future.
Federated Farmers dairy group chair Andrew Hoggard says although the announcements don’t mean farmers will be seeing “cheques in the mail” any time soon, it does mean they can have confidence in the direction of the industry.
"Farmers own Fonterra, and today’s result shows our co-op is performing strongly on the world stage."
It is particularly positive to see the cost-saving programme undertaken by the company has been effective and company debt has been significantly reduced.
"Fonterra’s profits are eventually returned to farmers, and are spent in the New Zealand economy, so this is positive news for all of us," Hoggard says.
