What Would Synlait Be Worth to Fonterra or a2 Milk?
Speculation of a possible joint move by Fonterra and a2 Milk to buy Synlait raises a much bigger strategic question, says agribusiness expert Dr Nic Lees.
The Hound would love to be a fly on the wall at the next Fonterra board meeting, when re-elected director Leonie Guiney returns to the dairy co-op’s the top table.
Your old mate hears that the self-nominated Guiney was the top-polling candidate at this year’s director elections.
This must have been a double whammy to Fonterra’s network of old-boys who not only engineered Guiney’s departure from the board last year via their Stalinist ‘board candidate nominee process’ but also watched as two of their ‘nominees’ failed to get elected last month.
One can only guess there will be some very uncomfortable people with red faces when they welcome the South Canterbury farmer back to Gumboot Castle in Auckland. Awkward, as they say.
OPINION: In politics, credibility is and should be big. It must surely rank higher than charisma, which is quite trite and superficial. Yet, voters nowadays are often wooed and influenced by how someone looks or talks at a superficial level. TV plays a huge role in this.
Farmers can spend less time on paperwork, thanks to a new data sharing agreement between DairyNZ’s DairyBase and LIC’s MINDA software.
Kaikōura families affected by July's severe storm have found a practical solution to a problem that's kept some children away from regular schooling for weeks: a washed-out section of Inland Kaikōura Road, which has stopped the local school bus from running its usual route.
Rural New Zealand is welcoming the Government’s recent package of rural healthcare initiatives.
Interest in agritech and production animal systems has prompted Massey University's School of Agriculture and the Environment to new majors to its popular animal science degree.
Ballance Agrinutrients chief executive Kelvin Wickham says despite a tough year, he is pleased the business has returned to profit.