Ah Tatua, You've Done It Again!
Waikato milk processor Tatua has again declared a record milk payout to farmer shareholders, leaving other processors in the dust.
Fonterra has copped a fair bit of stick from the Hound over the years. However, on this occasionyour old mate would like to give the dairy co-op some well-deserved praise.
It has changed a tanker collection time so that 35-year-old Andrew Oliver (one of about eight people in the world living with Fryns-Aftimos syndrome) can keep to his nightly routine of watching the tanker collect his dad Ken’s milk before going to bed at a decent time.
Apparently, Andrew, whose mental age is about six, would not go to bed until the milk tanker had been -- a problem when the collection time was 2am.
However, after his dad phoned Fonterra’s call centre to explain the family’s problem, the co-op decided to change its entire milk tanker schedule in the Te Rapa district to oblige.
When Northland leather worker Vernon Suckling started making horse saddles 50 years ago, quad bikes and side-by-side vehicles were unheard of.
Alliance Group has confirmed that eligible farmer-shareholders who supply and continue to back the business will receive up to $20 million later this year, following the strategic investment partnership with Dawn Meats.
With a general election under five weeks away, Rural News is asking major political parties about their policies and positions on key issues facing the primary sector. We will run their responses to each question over the next four weeks. The ACT Party and the Greens didn't respond in time.
The red meat sector is in great heart.
Dr Scott Champion, Foundation for Arable Research chief executive, says that everyone in the supply chain had a role to play in driving the sector's long-term success.
Entries opened on Monday, 5 October 2026 for the 2027 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA), which organisers describe as the nation's biggest celebration of excellence in the dairy sector.

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