Business

Farmers being hit hard by policy and regulation changes

A capital crunch is starting to impact farmers with banks increasingly cagey about lending to dairy and the sheep and beef sectors, which is putting huge pressure on the industry, according to Findex’s Head of Agribusiness, Hayden Dillon. Dillon noted things are looking okay externally. The macro story for our safe, efficiently produced protein is still very strong, evidenced by good commodity prices. But there are three domestically-sourced drivers which have converged to create significant difficulties for farmers, particularly those with high levels of debt or who are seeking capital to grow. The first reason is changes from the Overseas Investment Office. Dillon explains “The changes have had an impact on the value and demand of land meaning we do not have the foreign capital coming in for the largest part of our farming business, being sheep, beef and dairy and our productive assets there. This has had a flow on effect, being a lack of capital into the market, halting the domino effect of down-stream, farm sales taking place, and the obvious decrease in confidence meaning the largest farms just cannot sell, as they have no market, externally, or domestically as the banks have closed to these borrowers.” The second reason is the collection of various government polices and statements surrounding legislative changes. Dillon expands, “there are the unknowns around the Emissions Trading Scheme and the impacts and costs that could be associated with that, in conjunction with increased regulation and compliance as farmers are already working through their environmental plans, while also struggling to retain and attract staff, as visas are becoming harder to secure, and a longer process. These all have impact on the value of the farms as they directly affect productivity and cash flows.” Lastly, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) approach is […]

New Zealand King Salmon applies for open ocean farming

New Zealand King Salmon is taking a step towards the future in applying for resource consent to farm in the open ocean, north of Marlborough in the Cook Strait. Once the application is approved, the company intends to commission an initial farm with the potential to grow 4000 tonnes of King salmon – about twice the output of its largest existing farms – as the next step in furthering its 10 year goal of commercialising open ocean salmon farming in New Zealand. With over four hundred million hectares of ocean space on New Zealand’s doorstep – the fourth largest marine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the world – farming a tiny proportion of the ocean could provide a significant future source of healthy, sustainable protein. In addition to positive environmental and social benefits, the open ocean farms proposed within this application will support a significant increase in production by New Zealand King Salmon (NZKS), as well as eventually delivering many green jobs to the Top of the South region. “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for our company, our region, and the aquaculture industry,” says NZKS CEO Grant Rosewarne. “We’ve named our first open ocean farming project Blue Endeavour to signify the future-focused strategy we’re putting in place to harness the ocean’s potential in a sustainable way. The pens on these farms will be so spacious that we’re calling them sea ranges.” “Our changing climate and the need for low-carbon, high-nutrition food are truly global issues,” says Mr Rosewarne. “We see aquaculture as a force for good in addressing these challenges. We are investing in what we think will be the future of sustainable food production.” Research into temperature, wave heights, currents and other key environmental factors has been carried out by the company and independent scientists over the last […]

David-Surveyor-Alliance-Group-NZ-Food-Man-website

Alliance Group distributes over $4.5 million in loyalty payments to shareholders

Alliance Group has underlined its commitment to rewarding loyal shareholders with a $4.5 million distribution to farmers. The quarterly loyalty payments have been made to the co-operative’s Platinum and Gold shareholders who supply 100 per cent of their livestock to Alliance. The latest payment brings the total amount distributed so far this season to $13.5 million. “We are New Zealand’s only 100 per cent farmer-owned major red meat cooperative and our farmers tell us they value their ownership,” says Alliance Group chief executive David Surveyor. “We reward their investment by ensuring that they are at the heart of every decision we make and recognise their consistent and committed supply with our loyalty payments. “Every cent the co-operative makes in profits is delivered back to farmers or re-invested into the business to continue to improve our operational efficiency and ultimately lift returns to our farmer shareholders.” Under the loyalty payments programme, farmers are paid an additional 10 cents per kilogram for each lamb, six cents/kg for a sheep, 8.5 cents/kg for cattle and 10 cents/kg for deer. Last season, Alliance paid out $14.6 million in loyalty payments to shareholders. Farmer shareholders also receive a range of other benefits above the price on the day including yield contracts, priority processing and free store stock facilitation.

Farmers support additional efforts for wintering practices

New Zealand’s farming sector supports additional efforts to improve winter grazing practices on farms, with a particular focus on animal welfare. DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand do not condone poor winter grazing and support building on the significant efforts already underway to eliminate practices which impact on the environment and animal welfare. “No-one accepts poor winter grazing practices. Our organisations are firm on this,” said DairyNZ strategy and investment leader, Dr Jenny Jago. “Dairy and beef sectors have a role to play in protecting our waterways and, therefore, ensuring good practice winter grazing on farms is crucial to support the environment and keep our animals healthy.” Dr Jago said much work has been taking place to address poor winter grazing practices and she was encouraged by the progress that was being made, but there was still work to be done. “The vast majority of farmers take great pride in caring for their animals and the environment. There’s been significant investment into on-farm initiatives which protect the environment and animal welfare, and we will continue to expand on that. “We have been working together, and with central and regional government, to review and improve the resources available for farmers, while also supporting improved crop grazing practices on farms and reinforcing compliance.” A pan-sector collaborative programme has included farmer-facing extension, which sets clear practice standards to protect the environment and support animal health and wellbeing. “In the last year, DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand have had a particular focus on good management practices for winter cropping, through workshops and events with farmers,” said Beef + Lamb New Zealand GM for North Island, Matt Ward. The sector is looking to underpin this work through commitments by DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand for all farms to report under farm […]

Food wastage and power quality

Food and beverage manufacturing is becoming a 24-hour production cycle. Because of this, production lines are now heavily automated; however, this increased reliance on sophisticated automation is making power quality issues more impactful, especially when it comes to food waste. Here Darcy Simonis, Vice President for ABB’s Food and Beverage segment, explains how fixing power quality can reduce food waste in an increasingly continuous production cycle. Food is delicate. Therefore, even slight power disruptions, from the grid, that interrupt production processes can lead to a lot of food wastage. Disruption of machines in food production and refrigeration can mean large quantities of food being burnt, spoiled or contaminated, meaning that, due to stringent health and safety regulations, must then be discarded. This can escalate fast in a continuous production system because if even one piece of equipment goes out of sync, and is not caught quickly, large quantity of products will go to waste. Disruptions from low power quality can cause machinery to shut down in an unsafe manner. Low power quality is when power supplies are disrupted and no longer power machinery properly, such as voltage drops. These are sudden increases in current that cause voltage to drop over the impedance of a supply network, causing the voltage to vary. These voltage drops result in damage to machinery that may require parts to be replaced or can lead to severe health and safety issues. For example, if a conveyor was to break down while feeding bread through an oven, it could lead to the loaves igniting, which would not only cause severe damage to the conveyor belt and oven, but the fire could then spread putting the whole plant at risk. Improper shutdowns for smart-machines can also damage internal systems, scrambling the data and leading to faults and loss […]

Digital transformation driving change in key industries

Digital transformation (DX) is permeating every vertical market, and industries are looking to evolve to better align with their customers’ changing requirements. The result is the development and integration of cutting edge technologies and a change of methodology to improve processes, according to Y Soft. Adam O’Neill, managing director, Y Soft, Australia and New Zealand, said, “DX is radically changing how organisations operate and is shaking up industries at speed. Organisations are increasingly launching initiatives to expand or build digital capabilities to deliver business efficiency or increase top-line revenue growth.” According to the 15 industries surveyed as part of the Gartner 2018 CIO Agenda Industry Insights report, 47 per cent of CEOs are being challenged to make progress in digital business, and 56 per cent of respondents reported that digital improvements have already improved their overall profits. The 2018 edition of The Hackett Group’s annual key issues study, The CIO Agenda: Driving Value from Transformation, found that the use of virtual assistants, chatbots and other cognitive technologies is anticipated to grow at least five-fold in overall adoption rates over the next few years. Unsurprisingly, 74 per cent of companies are expecting DX to disrupt their industry and 82 per cent expect it to fundamentally change the operating model of their business. Adam O’Neill said, “These findings show that every industry is either already participating in or ready to join in with digital transformation. This seismic impact prediction calls for immediate action, and many companies have already begun their DX journeys and are automating and streamlining business processes by investing in artificial intelligence (AI), specifically machine learning.” Digital transformation is already having a significant impact on four vertical industries: Legal. Traditionally, the pace of digital change within the legal industry has been slow, with the legal profession resisting many of […]

Heavy lifting in sports and active lifestyle pays off

Mars has signed an agreement to purchase a majority shareholding in German targeted nutrition business, foodspring and, as part of this transaction, Fonterra has sold its interest in foodspring’s parent Goodminton A.G, and will realise a gain on sale of $64 million. Fonterra’s Chief Operating Officer NZMP, Kelvin Wickham, says the partnership with foodspring has been an exciting early activity for Fonterra’s new Sports and Active Lifestyle business unit. “From day one both foodspring and ourselves could see how our two companies would complement each other to make the most of the fast-growing sports and active market. “foodspring had established a strong on-line sales channel and a digital nutrition and wellbeing coach, and we’re the protein innovators with a range of high value, advanced ingredients. “Both companies could see the growth opportunities within the targeted nutrition market. And that’s exactly what’s happened. Over the past 18 months foodspring has become the fastest growing targeted nutrition brand in Europe. “At the same time, the partnership gave us immediate and direct access to the fast-growing consumer Sports and Active Lifestyle segment. This is not just about professional athletes or bodybuilders anymore. Today it’s about everyday people taking more interest in their health and wellbeing, living longer and leading more active and healthier lives. “This continues to be a really attractive market for our dairy protein and dairy speciality ingredients and we will keep up the momentum in this market. We are excited about continuing our relationship with foodspring and its new owners Mars, who will remain a valued customer of our NZMP ingredients business,” says Mr Wickham. The Sports and Active Lifestyle market is one of the fastest growing categories within the food and beverage industry. It is helping people with their health and wellness needs and is estimated to be worth […]

Synlait celebrates high performing dairy farmers

Synlait celebrated their highest performing dairy farmers at their 2018/2019 Honours Awards ceremony. The ceremony took place at their annual supplier conference held in Christchurch on Thursday 11 July 2019. “This is the fourth year we’ve held the Synlait Dairy Honours Awards and the standard of performance continues to increase year-on-year.” says Leon Clement, CEO. The awards are open to all Synlait milk suppliers, and we’re thrilled to see that a significant number of our winners are Lead With Pride™* certified. Each of our award winners and their teams have gone significantly above and beyond requirements to showcase excellence in dairy,” says Mr Clement. “I would like to congratulate each of our winners, and in particular Kieran McCall of Golden Dairies Limited who won the ANZ Supreme Lead With Pride™ Award.” “We look forward to our Waikato dairy farmers participating in the 2019/2020 awards.” The panel of independent judges were impressed with finalists’ innovative approaches to driving best practices across their dairy businesses. 2018/2019 Dairy Honours Award Winners Lead With Pride Awards ANZ SUPREME LEAD WITH PRIDE AWARD 2018-2019, Kieran McCall, Golden Dairies Limited HILTON HAULAGE BEST NEW LEAD WITH PRIDE™ AWARD 2018-2019, Stephen and Kate Moorhead, Wilmoor Dairy Farm Limited MILK QUALITY AWARDS This award recognises suppliers who consistently supply excellent quality milk. DTS BEST MILK QUALITY AWARD 2018-2019, Ruurd and Rachel Lieuwes, Lieuwes Abbott Limited FarmIQ BEST MILK QUALITY AWARD 2018-2019, (weighted by farm size), Stuart and Margaret Holland, Holland Farming Limited DATAMARS LOWEST SCC AWARD 2019-2019, Stephen Overend, Theland Purata Farm Group Limited – Colosseum Dairies VODAFONE MOST IMPROVED MILK QUALITY AWARD 2018-2019, Phil and Jocelyn Everest, Flemington Farm Limited LEAD WITH PRIDE AWARDS (JUDGED) Independent third-party judges focussed on the way award finalists care for their animals, the environment in which they farm, and for the […]

DairyNZ: Government’s methane target must change

DairyNZ has released its submission on the Zero Carbon Bill and is calling on the Government to revise the methane target in the Bill to one that does not put at risk New Zealand’s world-leading dairy sector. Farm profit could go down by as much as 42 percent and have a huge effect on national and regional economies under the current proposed range. “Dairying in New Zealand is world-leading in producing low emissions milk. We have a reputation for sustainability, and we want to keep it that way,” says DairyNZ Chief Executive Tim Mackle. “We are committed to playing our part in the transition to a low-emissions economy alongside the rest of New Zealand, but it must be done fairly, and consider the science as well as the economic impacts. “DairyNZ supports much in this Bill. However, we still have strong concerns about the proposed 2050 methane reduction target range, and our continued support for the Bill is conditional on this changing” said Dr Mackle. The Bill contains a 2030 methane target and a 2050 methane target range. “While the 10% reduction by 2030 will be very challenging, we believe we can make a decent crack at it. Our modelling indicates an average annual cost could be up to $13,000 per farm between 2020 and 2030. That’s why we are advocating for the target to be checked by the Commission once they are established, and regularly reviewed. “However, the 2050 target is just not realistic and must be changed. ”The Government’s proposed 2050 target range of 24 – 47% is not soundly based in science in a New Zealand context and it is higher than official advice. “The economic modelling used to inform the Bill was also undercooked and did not include a robust analysis of the implications for dairy […]

Farmers Rise to Climate Challenge

DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle is today joining with other primary sector leaders to launch a Primary Sector Climate Change Commitment: He Waka Eke Noa – our future in our hands to manage agricultural emissions. “This Commitment is an unprecedented sector-wide proposal to work constructively and collaboratively with Government, Maori and Iwi to make real and meaningful changes at the farm-level to reduce emissions. “What’s really positive about this proposal is it doesn’t just identify a problem – it provides a clear pathway forward and a way for the primary sector to work with the government rather than just impose regulations” said Dr Mackle. The proposal is being put forward in response to the Interim Climate Committee’s (ICCC) recommendation that agriculture be brought into the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for a five-year period, until a farm-level pricing mechanism is constructed. “We and the ICCC both agree that a farm-based mechanism is the best way to address biological emissions, however, our views diverge when it comes to how we get there. “Bringing agriculture into the ETS at the processor level amounts to little more than a broad-based tax on farmers before we have the knowledge, support and tools to drive the practice change that will reduce emissions. “The stakes are high. New Zealand’s primary sector contributes one fifth of our GDP, generates 1 in 10 jobs and produce 75% of our merchandise exports. We want to avoid shocks like the 80s and make any changes in a stable and considered way. “As an alternative we have put forward a proposed five-year work programme to build an enduring farm-level emission reduction framework and work with farmers and the wider rural sector to provide real options to reduce their footprint. “While appropriate pricing mechanisms for incentivising emissions reductions at farm level can […]

«‹ 35 36 37 38 ›»

News Ticker

Business