Farmlands Co-operative Appoints Rachel Aldikacti as Chief Sales Officer
Farmlands Co-operative has announced Rachel Aldikacti will be its new chief sales officer.
Rural services co-operative Farmlands has posted a $9 million loss for the 2016 year.
In its annual report released late last week chairman Lachie Johnstone and chief executive Peter Reidie blame the loss on the tough year in farming.
“The highs and lows confronting the sector are well documented and Farmlands has not been immune to them, posting a $9 million loss for the year ended 30 June 2016,” they say.
So bad was the year that, as earlier reported, no bonus rebate will be paid to shareholders “because the conditions we were experiencing would not allow it”.
Johnstone says this announcement foreshadowed a full year loss, but he claims things are now improving.
“Since the end of the financial year our results suggest we are on track for a stronger 2017.”
Reidie says: “the decline in sales, required adjustment to our cost base and right sizing our organisation, after many years of growth,” became an urgent focus during the year.
The co-op says its nutrition and retail businesses were hardest hard hit.
“Decreased foot traffic in our dairy-oriented stores had a ripple effect, and some of our livestock and real estate business units were down on previous years.”
But he says there were “positive contributions” from other parts of the business, in particular grain and seed.
Winning four of the big categories at the 2026 New Zealand Cheese Awards feels special, says Meyer Cheese general manager Miel Meyer.
Local cheesemakers are being urged to embrace competition from imports but also ensure their products are never invisible in the country.
Ireland's Minister of state for Agriculture says it’s hard to explain to Irish farmers the size and scale of NZ farms.
Dairy farming in New Zealand offers career progression and this has motivated 2026 Central Plateau Share Farmers of the Year Navdeep Singh and Jobanpreet Kaur.
A partnership between Canterbury milk processor Synlait and the world's largest food producer, Nestlé, has been celebrated with a visit to a North Canterbury farm by a group including senior staff from Synlait, the Ravensdown subsidiary EcoPond, and Nestlé's Switzerland head office.
Canterbury milk processor Synlait is blaming what it calls "a perfect storm" of setbacks for a big loss in its half year result for the six months ended January 31, 2026.

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