Markets resilient, farmers hopeful
OPINION: The global dairy market continues to show resilience, and farmers remain cautiously optimistic as we move into the latter half of 2025.
Landcorp's profit has taken a massive hit in the past year mainly because of the downturn in the dairy industry.
For the year ended June, the state-owned farmer’s profit was just $4.9 million vs $30m the previous year.
But chief executive Steven Carden says in the circumstances the result is a solid one given that the company is suffering the same fate as other farmers.
A tough growing season and low lamb prices also contributed to the 11.7% drop in income from farm products.
But Carden says the result could have been worse had Landcorp not secured a significant volume of milk in Fonterra’s guaranteed milk price. Milk revenue was down from $129m last year to $88.1m, but livestock revenue was up from $98.7m to $111.3m this year, partly off-setting the drop in dairy income.
Carden says while the drop is not unexpected, there are some positives.
“We had a very good year in our livestock business with wool income up 11% and production is up across our lamb, sheep and beef operations, while beef prices have been very strong,” he told Rural News.
“Strategically the organisation has moved forward during the year and we’ve done a lot of work connecting with new customers. We have signed a couple of important contracts with the Danish footwear company Glerups which uses our wool to make high quality slippers, and the iconic brand Swanndri, which is also using our wool.”
Carden says Landcorp has started supplying high quality deer hides to NZ Light Leathers which makes quality handbags, and it is progressing a contract with the UK supermarket giant Tesco for quality branded lamb cuts.
The company has begun a sheep milking venture at Broadlands, near Taupo -- 3500 sheep on land formerly used for cows and commercial forestry. A sheep milking expert from the UK is running the venture.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
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