Farmers' call
OPINION: Fonterra's $4.22 billion consumer business sale to Lactalis is ruffling a few feathers outside the dairy industry.
FONTERRA'S $120 million UHT milk processing site at Waitoa has produced its first 25,000 Anchor UHT cream packs ready for sale.
UHT operations manager, Donald Lumsden, says the first production marks a significant milestone for the Waitoa UHT site, which has transformed from a green field to a state-of-the-art milk processing facility in just 12 months.
"More than 500 people have been involved in the construction of the site and all their hard work has paid off. The first commercial production went smoothly and we produced 25,000 litres of cream ready for sale – this is a great result."
The site will enable Fonterra to increase its UHT production capacity by 100% over the next few years. It will process more than 100 million litres of milk per year when all five of its milk processing lines are up and running.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
Environment Southland's catchment improvement funding is once again available for innovative landowners in need of a boost to get their project going.
The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
OPINION: The phasing out of copper network from communications is understandable.
Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.