Milk price certainty
Westland Milk has reaffirmed its commitment to pay farmer suppliers 10c above Fonterra farm gate milk price for the following two seasons.
Westland chair Pete Morrison has reiterated the terms under which protesting former suppliers had surrendered their shares that they say are worth millions.
A group of former suppliers of Westland Milk Products has formally asked the Overseas Investment Office to block or delay the sale to Yili until they are paid millions of dollars owed to them for previously surrendering their shares. Read more here.
He said in a statement, “It is important to note that the individuals concerned knew of the conditions and terms of payment of their unsecured debt when they surrendered their shares.
“If the scheme is approved and the shares in Westland are transferred, Westland remains fully liable for these liabilities (as for all other liabilities) and the timing for payment and all other terms of payment for these individuals’ liabilities remain the same as before.”
The farmers making the approach to the OIO are all in Canterbury.
The group’s spokesman, Pete Williams, said that “true blue” Westland suppliers on the Coast didn’t have the same option of swapping supply.
“I suspect many of them would have, actually.”
“We’ve followed Westland pretty closely for the last few years. You know there was a lot of commercial risk for us to supply Westland. We took a lot of interest in the preceding three years before we made our decision to leave.”
Speaking before the shareholders’ vote on whether to accept the Yili offer, Williams predicted the deal would go through. Times were tough, with a lot of financial pressure, pressure from their banks and a milk price that meant they were probably losing money.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.