AN AGRIBUSINESS academic says Fonterra’s 2013-14 payout was unfair to sharemilkers and unshared suppliers as it ‘dipped’ the milk price to fund dividend-driving assets such Waitoa’s UHT plant and more milk hubs in China.

FEDERATED FARMERS is to discuss with Landcorp the possibility that as many as 60 dairy farmers in the Upper Waikato River catchment may not have enough water to wash down their dairy sheds.

THERE’S FIGHTING talk by Rotorua dairy farmer and former Federated Farmers Dairy chairman Lachlan McKenzie over proposed nitrogen limits on dairy farmers in the Rotorua Lakes catchment. He told Dairy News some council staff are “fixated”on reducing nitrogen, an approach he insists is wrong and not backed up by science. 

A STEADY stream of  containers loaded with UHT milk are leaving the Miraka dairy factory near Taupo headed for the China market. Miraka is contracted by the Chinese dairy giant Shanghai Pengxin to produce the UHT milk in 250ml branded packs for Chinese consumers.

THERE’S NOTHING to choose between kale and fodder beet as winter feeds, so long as you feed plenty of them, research from Lincoln University’s Ashley Dene farm shows.

DAIRY FARMS are few and far between in Central Otago but the New Zealand Grassland Association’s 76th annual conference in Alexandra last week still had plenty of papers relevant to the sector, and not just in the session designated dairy.

LAST WEEK’S dairy auction result was a mixed bag for farmers, says ASB economist Nathan Penny.  He notes that prices fell in all categories except whole milk powder, which rose 1.6% compared to the previous auction.

CALVING HAS gone well and production and mating are on track throughout the country, says Craig McBeth, DairyNZ’s general manager extension.   “So attention to detail in the core drivers of farming systems is working for farmers,” he told Dairy News. 

FONTERRA IS offering winter milk contracts in Waikato to keep its new $120m UHT plant in year-round production. The plant at Waitoa has eight lines and can produce 28 packets of UHT milk and cream per second; it needs 100m L of milk every year.

IRRIGATIONNZ SAYS it is heartened by the support it received for this week's 'It's Now or Never' Ruataniwha meeting.