Fonterra Settles Greenpeace Claim Over Anchor Butter Labelling
A day after selling its consumer businesses, Fonterra has settled a civil claim, filed by Greenpeace, out of court.
A number of farmers were forced to dump milk, says Farm Source regional head Charles Fergusson.
The feedback from Fonterra suppliers was that the flooding brought a "really tough" situation for some but others were surprised their farms fared as well as they did, he said.
Worst affected were farms along the Ashburton River.
"We had some challenges earlier on farms on North Canterbury as well, so we had farmers evacuated out of their houses up on Sunday night.
"There were a number of farms out there who we asked to dispose of milk. One of the reasons is that we just weren't happy sending tankers out in those conditions with uncertainty over roads and also the state of the tanker tracks."
Fonterra also had to briefly evacuate the Clandeboye factory when a local creek burst its banks.
Fergusson said a lot of farmers would have wanted to push the season further but they dried off early to beat the weather.
However, Fonterra had a couple of hundred suppliers still milking as well as 60 to 100 true winter milkers.
"I think we our transport team do an incredible job as long as they've got a route to factory so we are working quite closely with the authorities regarding roading to see if we are able to get around."
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A casualty of the storm that hit the Bay of Plenty recently was the cancelation of a field day at a leading Māori kiwifruit orchard at Te Puke.
Michael Wentworth has joined the team at Mission Estate Winery, filling the "big shoes" of former Chief Executive Peter Holley, who resigned in September last year, after almost 30 years running the storied Napier venue.
Some arable farmers are getting out of arable and converting to dairy in the faced of soaring fuel and fertiliser prices on top of a very poor growing season.
The New Zealand seed industry has reached a significant milestone with the completion and approval of the new seed certification system.
New Zealand's persimmon season will kick off early this year, with fruit set to hit shelves soon.
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