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Fonterra offers premium, rolling contracts to organic dairy producers

Fonterra Cooperative Group is paying its organic dairy producers a 45 cents per kilogram of milk solids premium to boost supply amid growing demand. It’s also moving to rolling rather than fixed contracts to give suppliers greater certainty over Fonterra’s commitment to the organic strategy, which still accounts for less than 1 percent of total milk supply. Fonterra’s move is something of a U-turn to the shake up of its previously unprofitable organics business in the past four years. In 2011 it scaled back its operations as public appetite for organic dairy products waned in the wake of the global financial crisis. Then in 2013 it refocused supply to the central and lower North Island, leaving many Northland organic farmers out in the cold. At the time Federated Farmers said Fonterra’s “we want you; now we don’t want; now we do” attitude to organics was confusing for farmers and made it difficult for them to plan and de-risk their businesses. Fonterra said today its new strategy was about giving its 73 organic dairy producers, who are all New Zealand based, greater certainty than they’ve had in the past because it recognised “it has been a difficult journey”. It wants to add an extra 600,000 kg/MS of supply this year, rather than a set number of producers. “This is about controlled growth and follows us consulting widely with our organic farmers and customers about what they want,” said Craig Deadman, Fonterra’s global business manager for organics. Contracts for nearly half of its existing suppliers are coming up for renewal this year. The new rolling contracts include farmers having to give 16 months’ notice if they want to quit supply, while Fonterra must give 28 months’ notice. Suppliers not yet producing organic milk will get the new 45 cents per kg/MS payment […]

NZ meat industry urged to bite bullet on rationalisation, rewards worth ‘billions’

New Zealand’s meat companies has been urged to bite the bullet and carry out long-mooted industry rationalisation, which could deliver “billions of dollars” in benefits, a new report says. The “Red Meat Industry – Pathways to Long-Term Sustainability” report commissioned by Meat Industry Excellence, a farmer-led group campaigning for industry reform, says that over-capacity in the industry “is costing farmers and processors a great deal, and distorting market behaviour to the detriment of export value.” It looks at various options to reduce over-capacity in the meat industry, noting that an amalgamation of Silver Fern Farms and Alliance Group alone could produce $400 million of benefits over five years. Adding Anzco and Affco to the mix, which would bring New Zealand’s four biggest meat companies to the table to work on “a coordinated and managed consolidation” could generate more than a billion dollars in savings, the report says. “Returns to sheep and beef farners are too low and not sustainable,” said MIE chairman John McCarthy. “If we don’t turn this around, New Zealand’s number two export industry will dwindle as its productive base erodes.” The report says that at the current pace of conversion of sheep and beef farms to dairy, the number of ewes across the country could fall to 15 million in five years’ time and 10 million in 10 years, from about 21 million currently. By contrast, the national dairy herd could grow to 7.5 million from 6.5 million now. The report said farmers broadly supported a “consolidated, cooperative model” although they have historically contributed to the problem of over-capacity among meat plants by shopping their stock around to companies who will pay a premium to ensure they get enough livestock to run their plant to capacity. The report said over-capacity “is imposing a heavy cost on farmers”, with benefits from rationalising processing plants estimated at $444 million […]

MPI trials super-sized beagle

Harrier hounds – they look like a super-sized beagle and they may soon be working at the border to protect New Zealand from imported pests and diseases. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is currently trialling two harriers (Morley and Muse) to see whether the breed could upsize its detector dogs. “Harriers could be a great asset for our border protection work”, says Brett Hickman, MPI Detection Technology Manager. “Harriers are very much like beagles in appearance, only taller. And similar to beagles, they have great drive, excellent noses for the food and plant materials we are looking for. They also are good with people. I’ve heard them described as “beagles on steroids.” “The extra height would come in handy with passengers carrying backpacks or with baggage stacked on trolleys. Reaching up to sniff baggage can put strain on the hind legs of beagles. “MPI thanks the New Zealand Hunts’ Association, who are the New Zealand custodians for the harrier breed, for their cooperation and help with this initiative. NZHA president Andy Morison says: “We are pleased our sport can make a contribution to help manage New Zealand’s biosecurity system, which is so crucially important to the primary export sector.” MPI recently announced a range of measures to make it harder for materials containing fruit fly to get past the border, introducing 100 percent screening of passengers and baggage by detector dogs. MPI currently uses beagles and labradors as biosecurity detector dogs. It runs a beagle breeding-programme.

NZ lamb wool prices jump to 4-year high

New Zealand lamb wool prices jumped to the highest in more than four years at auction yesterday on increased demand from China for the apparel fibre, and aided by a stronger US dollar. Lamb wool rose 3.9 percent to an average $6.65 per kilogram from last week’s auction, the highest price since February 2011, according to AgriHQ. The average price for 35 micron wool, a benchmark for crossbred wool used for carpets and accounting for the majority of New Zealand’s production, slipped 1.9 percent $5.25/kg as it retreated after touching a three month high last week on lower volumes. The New Zealand dollar has declined against the greenback over the past week after better jobs data out of the US stoked speculation the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates in June. The stronger US dollar has meant that while the cost for buyers paying in that currency have remained relatively stable, the weaker New Zealand dollar means they are able to pay more for lamb wool in local currency terms. “Lamb wool increased relative to the US dollar as there is very strong Chinese interest in this wool type, and trading to that country is done in US dollars,” said AgriHQ agriculture analyst Ivan Luketina. “Other wool types where demand was spread over China, Australia, India and Europe had smaller increases as the NZ dollar has held up more against most of these currencies than against the US dollar.” Some 7,995 wool bales were offered at the latest auction in the South Island, the smallest weekly offering so far this year, as New Zealand comes out of its main shearing season from December to early February. Wool is New Zealand’s 14th largest commodity export.

Farmax conference to focus farmers and rural consultants on 2025 export goals

Decision support software company, Farmax, believes it has a key tool pastoral farmers can use to help the agriculture industry achieve its goal of doubling exports by 2025. The company’s 2015 conference will focus on helping farmers and rural consultants gain confidence in the tools they need to achieve this objective. Minister for Primary Industries Hon Nathan Guy will open the conference at Mac’s Function Centre in Wellington on 7-8 May. Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief executive Dr Scott Champion, OVERSEER general manager Caroline Read and Landcorp Farm Operations general manager Graeme Mulligan will also present over the two-day event. Conference attendees will receive important insights into the current state of New Zealand’s agricultural industry, as well as the Government’s goal of doubling agricultural exports by 2025. This goal is well-aligned with Farmax’s main objective, which is to help pastoral farmers increase productivity and profitability through better planning, monitoring, analysing and reviewing.

Sustainable salmon farming subject of $5.2 million research project

New Zealand government, research and commercial groups are aligning with international salmon experts to make salmon farming here even more sustainable. The $5.2 million project is spearheaded by Nelson-based New Zealand King Salmon and aims to fully understand the specific dietary requirements of King salmon. To conduct the programme, New Zealand King Salmon has brought together a research group comprising Seafood Innovations Ltd (SIL), Nelson’s Cawthron Institute, the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) and Danish feed producer BioMar. The nutritional requirements of the rare King Salmon species – farmed predominantly in New Zealand – differ considerably from the common Atlantic salmon, trout and other salmon species farmed elsewhere in the world. Currently global suppliers produce feed based on environmental and economic considerations for the latter species. New Zealand King Salmon chief operating officer Rubén Álvarez says the company is committed to best practice and the highest quality product and that drives the need to fully understand the species’ dietary requirements. “I came to New Zealand with a background in farming other salmon and trout species around the world and was prepared to apply that knowledge to growing salmon here. “However I immediately realised we were lacking detailed dietary information on King salmon. Although the unique qualities of the King salmon are an advantage for us in our sales and marketing activity, it also means that information based on the nutritional needs of the more common species is not always applicable and R&D for King salmon is not a broader industry priority. “It was obvious that if we didn’t drive this research, it would not happen,” Mr Álvarez says. The aim of the world-first study is to develop a high-quality, species-specific feed that improves vastly on the generic products currently available. Commercial interests are providing half the funding for the […]

Biopure celebrates hard-won China infant formula registration

It’s hugely satisfying to see it all coming together.” Auckland exporter Biopure Health is welcoming in the Chinese New Year by securing what has proved impossible for other small players in China’s tough new infant formula market. The company has gained registration for its Infapure formula brand under strict new Chinese regulations that require infant formula manufacturers and brands to gain approval from China’s National Certification Authority (CNCA) in order to export. These new regulations have seen more than 400 hundreds of brands of New Zealand origin disappear from the Chinese market, with a large number of manufacturers still awaiting approval. Biopure managing director Simon Page says that gaining registration is a “game changer” and puts his company in the box seat for dramatic expansion. “It was touch and go for a while there – a large majority of companies haven’t been able to secure contracts with CNCA approved factories and have either gone out of business or had their plans to launch in China put on hold indefinitely,” said Page. “Instead, to start the year we have placed an order for nine containers of Infapure for shipment in April and we expect to be placing further orders before the end of the year,” he said. A key to the company’s success is its business model. Biopure sells its products through a boutique chain of imported milk stores in China called ‘The New Zealand Milk Bar’ founded by Page and wife Jane, a Chengdu native, in 2012. The pair have rapidly established 25 New Zealand Milk Bars in 23 cities across six provinces in China from their head office in Chengdu where they employ eight staff. The couple’s China company acts as importer and exclusive distributor to the stores which Page says enables greater control and allows more value to […]

Lincoln student in frontline of battle against stink bug

In the wake of the Queensland fruit fly threat Lincoln University PhD student Laura Nixon is working hard to develop a weapon in the fight to stop another unwanted destructive pest, the brown marmorated stink bug, coming into the country. The bug is currently regarded by New Zealand’s horticulture industry as one of the top six pests of concern. Ms Nixon’s research is funded by multiorganisational research collaboration Better Border Security (B3), and she is based at the Bio-Protection Research Centre on Lincoln’s Te Waihora campus. She is trying to come up with a way to chemically detect an infestation of the bugs in a confined space such as a shipping container, one of the ways it is envisaged the insect could make its way into the country. The brown marmorated stink bug is an agricultural pest found in Asia, but it has invaded the United States and it is considered highly likely it could successfully establish in New Zealand if it gets here. Since the insect arrived in the United States in the mid-1990s it has occasionally multiplied into plague proportions. In 2010 it caused US$37 million damage to apple crops across several states. It feeds on more than 300 hosts, primarily fruit trees and woody ornamentals but also field crops. Almost any crop can be at risk. Ms Nixon says the chemical compound, or the stink, the bugs emit when disturbed has been identified but she will work on trying to distinguish it from amongst other naturally emitted odours. Initially she will work with native stink bugs, which are not considered pests, and then travel to the United States to see if her results can be used on the pest species. She says the bugs are closely related so it is expected they will. Ms Nixon says the […]

Nominations open for Beef + Lamb awards

Nominations are now open for this annual event that champions the country’s top performing sheep farmers, breeders, and industry innovators. The fourth Beef + Lamb New Zealand Sheep Industry Awards will take place in Invercargill on Wednesday 1 July 2015. “It’s fitting that the New Zealand sheep industry recognises and rewards its top performers, and in doing so profiles the significant contribution it makes to the New Zealand economy,” says Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) chief executive, Dr Scott Champion. “Productivity levels have improved dramatically over the past 20. Lambing percentages are 20 per cent higher than they were in 1995, and lamb carcase weights are up 28 per cent. “This improvement is down to expert farm management, the application of great science on farm, and genetics. These are the sorts of farming practices that have seen our sheep flock continue to produce the highest quality protein possible, and New Zealand sheep farmers continue to lead the world.” Dr Champion is inviting farmers, sheepmeat processors and others in the industry to join the organisation in celebrating the best of the best, and getting their nominations in for this year’s awards. Award categories cover genetics, production, and business innovation. The genetics awards recognise New Zealand’s top breeders. These will be drawn from the B+LNZ Genetics SIL database. Another six industry awards will be made to nominated individuals or businesses, assessed by a panel of sheep industry experts. The categories are: Sheep Industry Supplier of the Year, open to all New Zealand sheepmeat processors Sheep Industry Science Award, recognising a scientist whose work has made for a more productive and/or profitable sheep industry Sheep Industry Trainer of the Year, to a person enabling the best learning to happen Individual or Business Making a Significant Contribution to the New Zealand Sheep […]

Fledgling agri-food course whetting student appetites

A new multi-disciplinary degree course taking food production beyond the farm gate and onto the world stage is experiencing 150 per cent growth in new enrolment numbers in only the second year it has been offered at Lincoln University. Developed to meet the needs of an industry decrying a lack of graduates prepared for careers in the agri-food supply chain the Bachelor of Agribusiness and Food Marketing degree (B.AFM) has gone from 20 students in 2014 to 50 students this year. It is one of the success stories at Lincoln University’s Te Waihora campus which has seen good growth in new student enrolments in 2015, both for New Zealand and international students. Senior Agribusiness Management lecturer Nic Lees says the degree was a unique course in New Zealand “in that it is an integrated course that includes both commerce and science papers”. “The mix of business, food quality and safety, supply chain management and marketing is what differentiates the programme.” Mr Lees, who is the Director of Lincoln’s Agribusiness and Food Marketing programme says the degree was developed in conjunction with leading agri-food companies. “They have been saying that there is a lack of graduates prepared for careers in the agri-food supply chain beyond the farm gate. New Zealand has traditionally been good at producing food but there is a lack of expertise in marketing and value adding.” The degree has been endorsed by the Australian and New Zealand Produce Marketing Association and agri-food companies such as Zespri, Fonterra, Synlait Milk, ANZCO Foods, Silver Fern Farms and First Light Foods. Mr Lees says the degree equips students with a sound applied knowledge of core business concepts and the unique commercial considerations of the international agrifood industry. Students gain a contextual understanding of the global agribusiness and food marketing sectors. The […]

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