Farmers are clearly struggling to afford the fertiliser tonnages they need to optimise production, but the situation is not as bad as when subsidies were removed in 1984. Head of Agro-Sciences at Ballance Agri-Nutrients, Warwick Catto says the key difference between the1980s and today is farmers can still afford to budget for fertiliser expenditure, even […]
NZ’s post-2012 climate change policies, including any 2020 emissions target, must balance environmental and financial implications. Meat & Wool NZ Chairman, Mike Petersen, says recent announcements from the Govt indicate emissions trading is here to stay and will include agricultural emissions. “These issues are critical for sheep and beef farming businesses as they will set […]
Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden says he is “still comfortable” with its forecast milk fat payment of $4.55 a kg for 2010, even though the kiwi dollar is trading above its assumed 59-60 US cents level. Speculation has swirled the forecast is too optimistic as farmers worldwide reel from prices which in some instances […]
The first DNA proven calf has been born in NZ. The nameless calf is the son of Cow 90 which leapt to fame last year as the first dairy cow to be inseminated with LIC’s DNA Proven semen. Cow 90 became the face of genomically selected semen and, to the delight of owner Stu Lyons […]
A proposed mid-Canterbury irrigation scheme south of the Rakaia River has issued a $30m prospectus but looks unlikely to receive much support as the dairy sector downturn and global recession hits funding options. The Barrhill-Chertsey scheme which would irrigate 17,500ha for 200 farmers, received resource consent in 2001 and has obtained two extensions to the […]
Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry have concluded no blame for the drop in dairy prices can be sheeted home to Fonterra’s globalDairyTrade online auction. In a briefing note to Agriculture Minister David Carter, MAF says Fonterra doesn’t have the global market power to influence prices and the volumes trading in the monthly […]
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