Fonterra shaves 50c off forecast milk price
Fonterra has dropped its forecast milk price mid-point by 50c as a surge in global milk production is putting downward pressure on commodity prices.
Your old mate was flabbergasted at the sheer political gall of Labour and the Greens in their latter-day ‘concern for farmers’ in the wake of the recent drop in dairy payout.
MPs from both parties, saying they were worried about farmers, tried to blame the Government for the drop in global dairy prices or sought to make Fonterra pay farmers more or to force banks to carry bad loans. Your canine crusader reckons farmers might take these ‘concerns’ a little more seriously when Green MPs stop labelling farmers polluters and water thieves and their Labour mates stop wanting to hit the farming sector with new greenhouse gas taxes, stop making claims about farmers deliberately avoiding paying tax and cease calls to whack the sector with even more costs.
Despite a late and unfavourable start, this year’s strawberry crop is expected to be bountiful for producer and consumer alike.
Nearly three years on from Cyclone Gabrielle, Hawke's Bay apple orchardist Paul Paynter says they are still doing remedial work around their orchards and facing financial challenges.
An unusual participant at the recent Royal A&P Show in Christchurch was a stand promoting a variety of European products, during an event that normally champions the homegrown.
Bradley Wadsworth lives on the family farm – Omega Station – in the Wairarapa about 30 minutes’ drive east from Masterton.
With global milk prices falling, the question is when will key exporting countries reach a tipping point where production starts to dip.
Rural contractors want the Government to include a national standard for air plans as part of its Resource Management Act reforms.

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