Tuesday, 23 January 2024 10:25

Spread too thin?

Written by Milking It

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

OPINION: With current dairy returns so tight, Fonterra farmers may start to question the wisdom of some of the co-op's more charitable ventures.

The co-op has been supplying free milk to NZ schools for a while now. Its Aussie arm is now also making regular donations of Fonterra's Duck River Butter to 19 schools across northern Tasmania, an initiative aimed to "reduce the impact of disadvantage when breakfast is missed".

A worthy aim, no doubt about it, which is why questioning such initiatives can seem mean, and is usually avoided. But it is worth asking: When on-farm returns just aren't there, can the co-op really afford to keep doing this? As they say, charity starts at home.

More like this

Fonterra Cuts 2026/27 Milk Price Forecast to $9.25

Fonterra has reduced its forecast 2026/27 Farmgate Milk Price.

Fonterra's Whareroa Wins Directors Award

Fonterra's Whareroa site took home the prestigious Directors Award at the co-op's 'Oscars of Manufacturing', while Clandeboye led the way with multiple wins at this year's Best Site Cup.

Dairy Holdings CEO Colin Glass Retires After 25 Years of Growth

After 25 years it is the right time to step away, says Colin Glass, the retiring chief executive of New Zealand's largest private corporate dairying company, Dairy Holdings.

Fonterra Expands China Foodservice Business with New Anchor Essence Cream

Fonterra is strengthening its foodservice presence in China with the launch of a new cream for professional bakeries at Bakery China 2026 in Shanghai.

Smith V Fonterra

OPINION: To a chorus of crying greenies, and not a minute too soon, the Government has moved to put the courts back in their place through proposed amendments to the Climate Change Response Act 2002, intending to limit climate litigation claims such as Smith v Fonterra, in the interests of providing greater certainty for vital industry.

Featured

NZ First 'doesn't oppose trade element' of India FTA

Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson says his party – NZ First - isn’t opposed to the “trade element” of a free trade deal with India.

Lodestone's Solar Farm Clears Fast-Track Approval

The managing director of a company seeking to build a solar farm in Canterbury says receiving fast-track approval is a “really positive outcome”.

ACT MPs Slam Green Party's Fertiliser Ban Policy

Retiring MP and dairy farmer Mark Cameron is blasting the Green Party for proposing to ban the use of synthetic fertiliser and cutting cow numbers.

NZ Farm Accident Claims Drop Nearly 35% Since 2020

A huge reduction in ACC claims from on-farm accidents over the last five years is due to thousands of small, practical decisions being made in sheds, yards, paddocks and around kitchen tables across the country, says Safer Farms ambassador Lindy Nelson.

Inside the Moxhams' Award-Winning Organic Dairy Farm

Wayne and Ange Moxham of Horowhenua have just been named as Fonterra's top organic performer for milksolids. As well as providing organic milk to Fonterra, the couple also sell Udderly Organic milk to more than 100 outlets in the region and are embarking on another exciting venture producing organic gelato. Reporter Peter Burke went along to see their farming operation.

Federated Farmers: Rural Voices Must Shape Reform

Certainty and a clear understanding of the needs of rural communities is a critical outcome in the series of government reforms that are taking place at present.