Fonterra has cemented its position as the country’s number one cheesemaker by picking up nine NZ Champion of Cheese trophies this year. The co-operative was the big winner at the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards Gala Dinner in Hamilton on Thursday night. Fonterra’s NZMP Epicure - also sold as Mainland Epicure aged cheddar – took the top title of Woolworths Champion of Champions (Commercial). The judges described this as “Beautiful! An abundance of calcium lactate, intense good string mature flavour yet well balanced, and clean. Pleasurable savoury tone, with fruity, sweet and nutty alongside ..read more

New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments. This follows Canada’s confirmation of its approach to administering its Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) dairy import quotas that will again place most of the quota access in the hands of domestic processors, who have limited interest in importing from CPTPP countries. "DCANZ agrees with the New Zealand Government assessment that Canada has cynically moved to replicate the outcome that the dispute panel ruled aga ..read more

An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year. Farmer Time for Schools says student participation increased by 8% from 2022, to nearly 1100 students. Despite challenges in 2023, including adverse weather and the impact of Covid19 and teacher strikes, Farmer Time for Schools persevered, introducing more young New Zealanders to rural life and the farmers behind our food. National Coordinator, Marie Burke says being involved with Farmer Time for Sch ..read more

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer. The resolution, proposed by the US and adopted by consensus, invites FAO in collaboration with other UN Rome-based Agencies, to facilitate the implementation and observance of the International Year of the Woman Farmer. It also invites UN Member States, organisations of the United Nations System, other international organisations and stakeholders, including civil society, private sector and acad ..read more

Waikato herd health veterinarian Katrina Roberts is the 2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year. The award was announced last night a gala dinner, as part of Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) 2024 Conference “Enhance, Elevate, Evolve” in New Plymouth. Roberts was recognised for her outstanding passion and advocacy for the dairy industry. DWN Trustee Donna Smit says Roberts has raised the bar for the industry and personifies enthusiasm and the values of the DWN. “We are thrilled to award Katrina the 2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year. Her commitment and passion to helping farmers and advocate for ..read more

Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand has no intention of backing down in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products. McClay has called Canada’s refusal to comply in full, with a Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade dispute ruling in NZ’s favour as cynical. New Zealand initiated the dispute because Canada was not complying with Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) rules, blocking dairy exporters’ access to its market. A CPTPP arbitration panel ruled decisively in New Zealand’s favour. Canada ha ..read more

There have been leadership changes at the Hamilton-based Dairy Goat Co-operative, which has been struggling financially in recent years. Chief executive David Hemara left the co-op a month ago. Rural News understands chair Campbell Storey has also resigned. Former chief executive Tony Giles has been appointed as acting CEO. There was backlash from farmer shareholders earlier this year after DGC asked suppliers to reduce their milk supply by one-third for the coming season. In March, Hemara told Rural News that DGC has advised its shareholder suppliers that it will call for less milk in the 2 ..read more

Another 16 commercial beef farmers have been selected to take part in the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme designed to help drive the uptake of genetics in the industry. The seven-year INZB partnership, supported by Beef + Lamb New Zealand, the New Zealand Meat Board and the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund, aims to boost the sector’s profits by $460m over the next 25 years. Focused on increasing the use of high-quality genetics in the beef industry, the four main components of the programme are developing New Zealand-specific breeding index ..read more

Trade Minister Todd McClay says Kiwi exporters will be $100 million better off today as the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into force. McClay says that New Zealand’s prosperity is dependent on international trade as it makes up 60% of the country’s total economic activity. “It is only through a strong economy that we can reduce the cost of living and pay for quality public services like schools and hospitals,” he says. “This is a significant achievement for New Zealand and follows more than 15 years of lobbying, persuading and negotiating.” The agreement secures tariff reductions for ..read more

Making things simpler, not harder, for deer farmers in farm planning and coping with regulations is Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ) industry capability manager John Ladley’s current focus. With markets demanding higher environmental and societal standards from the products deer farmers are supplying, the deer industry is organised and DINZ says it is set on supporting producers navigate the planning systems and services to come out the other side with an integrated farm plan, Ladley says. The main fuel for this initiative, “Engaged Farmers to Succeed”, is its $700,000 share of the $37 milli ..read more