MANAGEMENT Ewe Hoggart Awards toast top sheep breeders. PAGE 28
MACHINERY Taranaki contractors really know their stuff. PAGE 34
RURALNEWS
NEWS WorkSafe already getting offside with farmers – report.
PAGE 10
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS
JUNE 16, 2015: ISSUE 586
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Not if, but when! PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
MILK PRICE recovery is more likely in 2016-17 than this season, says Rabobank director of dairy research Hayley Moynihan. The recovery is a question of when not if, Moynihan told Rural News. “The timing of the recovery will depend on how much of that price improvement is seen in the 2015-16 season and how much is seen in the following season,” she said. “Rabobank still expects it will be largely a 2016 recovery therefore a dramatic lift in this season’s milk price is unlikely but recovery should be seen in 2016-17.” Moynihan says production lifts are
still being seen in Europe, the United States and the tail end of the New Zealand season was much stronger than initially expected. “The rate of increase is starting to slow slightly but it is still increasing.” This is contributing to the delay in price recovery. The European Union is boosting production after the lift on quotas, as predicted. Those countries which geared up for the removal of quota have seen strong increases in production but lower
prices are curtailing their enthusiasm. “So production is growing but not as strongly as it could be if we were in a higher milk price environment.” Synlait announced its forecast milk price for the forthcoming 2015-2016 dairy season at $5.50 kgMS. “Despite the small recovery in commodity prices we saw earlier this year, the market has not delivered the stability we had hoped for,” said John Penno, Synlait managing director.
“We’re very aware of how financially tough this current season is for our suppliers. We are confident commodity prices will recover over time and our 2015-2016 forecast milk price assumes we will see the beginning of this recovery from the current low prices.” “The global oversupply is being met by soft demand across the board. This creates a lot of uncertainty in an already volatile market, so it will remain a fragile environment for the immediate future.”
A CHIP OFF THE BOSS'S LUNCH Prime Minister John Key pinches a chip from the lunch of Mark Hohneck, who was getting it for his boss on the Diesel Performance Solutions site at Fieldays. The PM visited many of the sites on the first day of the show, and was repeatedly asked to pose for photographs and selfies, which he willingly did. Key spent much of the first day at Mystery Creek in the company of Ministers Nathan Guy and Steven Joyce. Key was there to officially open the Fieldays. More on what the PM had to say about farming on p3.
FULL OF SURPRISES KPMG’S IAN Proudfoot says the biggest surprise for him when compiling the latest Agribusiness Agenda was the discussion on what the future dairy industry might look like. He didn’t expect to have the level of conversation fundamentally about how much milk Fonterra will end up collecting. “It’s a conversation that has definitely come up in the last 12 months and I think it’s from seeing well-capitalised companies come into the industry with the potential to change the industry,” Proudfoot told Rural News. “It comes from real concerns about whether Fonterra is adding value, and the general answer is that there is a lot more they could be doing.” Proudfoot says the other surprise for him was seeing broadband climb the list to second equal – indicating it is a core issue for the sector. “We can see the productivity opportunities in technology, its environmental potential and what it can do to strengthen our communities. If we can get rural broadband right, we can transform the rural environment, create new jobs and generate more wealth.” Proudfoot points to a growing realisation of the need to inspire young people to make a career in agriculture and to help them understand the sector. – Full report coverage pages 6 and 7
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