Why Fonterra accepted defeat in the dairy aisle
OPINION: Fonterra's sale of its consumer dairy business to Lactalis is a clear sign of the co-operative’s failure to compete in the branded consumer market.
Fonterra has started consulting its 10,000 farmer shareholders on potential changes to its capital structure.
In an email farmer shareholders co-op chairman Peter McBride has asked them to fill an online survey.
The short survey has nine questions including on whether farmers want the capital structure review.
Fonterra’s board and management have been looking at capital structure options.
McBride told farmer shareholders that it needs a capital structure to ensure it best supports the co-op strategy and long-term vision.
“We have spent the past few months reviewing potential options, including staying with our current structure,” he says.
“Every option has its own merits, but also involves some form of trade-off.”
McBride says the farmer feedback will be considered as part of the board’s decision-making process as it moves toward a preferred option.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
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