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As Australia's competition watchdog gears up to investigate that country’s dairy crisis, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has pointed out that New Zealand doesn’t have $1/L milk marketing ploys despite having the same retailers.
But he’s only half-right. Australian retailer Woolworths owns the Countdown chain of supermarkets in NZ. Countdown is locked in fierce competition with the NZ-owned Pak n Save chain. The other Australian player, Coles, doesn’t operate here. And there’s nothing preventing Countdown offering milk at $1/L as does its parent company. Joyce acknowledges cheap milk has hurt dairy farmers for years, a problem now made more harmful by depressed export prices.
Federated Farmers is vowing to keep the big banks accountable for their actions and to continue pushing for meaningful change in the rural lending sector.
Farmer perceptions of current economic conditions have risen to their highest level in almost a decade.
Two butcheries have claimed victory at the 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Awards for 2025.
A Taupiri farming company has been convicted and fined $52,500 in the Hamilton District Court for the unlawful discharge of dairy effluent into the environment.
The Climate Change Commission’s 2025 emissions reduction monitoring report reveals steady progress on the reduction of New Zealand’s climate pollution.
Another milestone has been reached in the fight against Mycoplasma bovis with the compensation assistance service being wound up after helping more than 1300 farmers.
