December 2007

Farmers must keep the pedal to the metal on industry change
Friday the 14th might not sound like an ominous day but for the meat industry it was a pivotal point.

New blood elected to Alliance Group board
Shareholders of Alliance Group Ltd threw off any notions of apathy on Friday and voted for change.

Fonterra increases payout forecast
Fonterra Co-operative Group has lifted its forecast payout for the current season by 50 cents, from $6.40 to $6.90 per kilogram of milksolids.

Ram breeders battle on despite challenges
Sheep genetic technologies continue to excel despite the odds stacking up against ram breeders and researchers.

Lamb industry to improve soon
There's talk that it will take at least 5 years to fix the industry and improve returns to sheep farmers?

Managing ewe & lamb health & weaning
Favourable weather in autumn and spring have resulted in large numbers of multiples being born and then surviving this year.

New device measures meat tenderness
SAC (Scottish Agricultual College) and QMS have unveiled Tenderscot, a portable device which measures the tenderness of meat.

Farmers need to get rid of the 'old blazers'
Primary producers are right to expect, and demand, more of their leaders, participants were told at last weeks 20/20 Primary Industries Summit in Christchurch.

$100 lambs vital for NZ sheep industry
To ensure the New Zealand sheep farmer has a viable future, farmers must get higher prices for their lamb, according to Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre Producers' Council Chairman Keith Kelly.

Aussies launch forward contract rules for cattle
For many Australian cattle producers managing risk through forward contracts can be a complex and confusing process, but that is all set to change with today's official release of a set of standard trade rules for the forward sale of cattle.

Dry rot spores being released now
Swedes are still a viable crop in Southland but they must be used wisely and care taken with all brassica crop husbandry.

Email offers galore
Have you found your popularity has been increasing lately? Got lots of nice girls who are tired or bored and want to chat to you tonight? Or maybe you've received a too-good-to-refuse share offer...

PPCS: No more 'special deals'
"If anyone has evidence of a 'special deal' involving PPCS this season, I want to hear about it," that's the message from PPCS CEO Keith Cooper.

Improved outlook for lamb
The prospects for lamb are strong, based on the price points being achieved currently for product in Europe and the Middle East, according to Affco CEO Stuart Weston.

Demand and undercutting
There was much talk last season about undercutting in the marketplace and the effect this might have had on the returns to farmers. But did it actually happen and is it happening this season?

Introduction ...
Well ... what can we say but that it’s been a long, long time between drinks, or in this case editions of Farmnews.

"Special deals" - do they exist?
Farmers have heard mutterings and rumours about whether meat companies have had special deals with some favoured suppliers but few farmers really know the answer. It is hard not to presume that where there is smoke there is fire!

Affco announces result
The 2007 season has been a difficult one, punctuated by significant foreign exchange volatility and difficulties around livestock pricing resulting in a disappointing outcome for the year, according to Affco.