Tatua's just too-good
OPINION: Earlier this month, small Waikato milk processor Tatua reminded the country that it’s still number one when it comes to paying farmers for their milk.
Waikato milk processor Tatua will use retentions to grow its cream and protein based value-added products, says chief executive Brendhan Greaney.
He says Tatua will be making more specialty nutritional products for key markets China, Japan and the US.
The co-op has announced a final payout of $7.10/kgMS to farmer shareholders for the 2016-17 season; it has retained 50c/kgMS to help fund capital projects and maintain a strong balance sheet.
Tatua achieved operating revenue of $335 million and earnings of $114m, equating to group earnings of $7.60/kgMS before retentions and taxation.
With these results the co-op has again topped the milk payout table. Suppliers applauded, Greaney says.
The co-op processed 15m million kgMS last season, down 600,000kgMS on the previous season. This reflected the less favourable farming conditions during the spring; milk quality continued to be outstanding.
Tatua closed the year with a strong balance sheet with a gearing ratio (debt divided by debt plus equity) of 35%.
Meanwhile Maori-owned Miraka Dairy Company near Taupo has set the price range for its payout for the coming season at $6.30 to $6.60/kgMS. In the previous season its payout was $6.23/kgMS.
Chief executive Richard Wyeth says Miraka was happy to be able to offer $6.23 last season and says the signs for the new season are promising despite the slight drop in last week’s GDT.
“Our production this season is up. Last season we increased our budget by 4% and so far this season we are up on that which is a good result. Although we have had a lot of rain like everyone else, our production is holding up reasonably well and a reason for that is many of our farmer suppliers are on pumice soils so we can handle a bit more rain than other regions.”
Wyeth says farmers are telling him it’s still wet onfarm and some are having to fly on fertiliser.
He believes another reason for the increase in production is the higher milk price for this season.
“That tends to lead to higher milk production,” he says.
2016-17 payouts
1. Tatua $7.10/kgMS
2. Synlait $6.30/kgMS (average)
3. Miraka $6.23/kgMS
4. Fonterra $6.12/kgMS (plus 40c/share dividend)
5. Open Country Dairy $5.75/kgMS to $5.95/kgMS (average)
6. Westland $5.18/kgMS.
A further ten commercial beef farmers have been selected to take part in the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme to help drive the uptake of genetics in the industry.
This morning, NZ Young Farmers (NZYF) has announced that Cheyne Gillooly will take over as its chief executive in June.
The message for the 2025 World Bee Day is a call to action for sustainable practices that support bees, improve food security, and protect biosecurity in the face of mounting climate pressures.
Consumers around the world are willing to pay more for products containing dairy and this is driving demand for butter and cream, says Fonterra.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters often describes NZ as a small and isolated nation situated 'just north of the penguins' but says in terms of global affairs, NZ and other small nations should be judged on the quality of their arguments and not the size of their military.
Use of agricultural drones by contractors in New Zealand is soaring.
OPINION: Last week's announcement of Prime Minister’s new Science and Technology Advisory Council hasn’t gone down too well in the…
OPINION: At its recent annual general meeting, Federated Farmers’ Auckland province called for New Zealand to withdraw from the Paris…