TheDairySite Newsletter - 3 July 2009

Friday 3rd July 2009

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Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: Ever-powerful Fonterra too Big to be Contained?

This week, Fonterra was officially ranked as the No.1 dairy processor in the world. The survey benchmarked 600 milk processors in over 70 countries and placed Fonterraâ€™s total annual volume of milk processed ahead of Dairy Farmers of America, NestlÃ©, Dean Foods and FrieslandCampina. Fonterra is clearly in a dominant market position, but this kind of power comes with drawbacks.

A few days later, the cooperative was in the news again. This time reports revealed that it was appealing a Commerce Commission decision requiring the cooperative to supply raw milk to a third party processor for the Kaimai Cheese and Grate Kiwi cheese companies.

The Raw Milk Regulations, which require the cooperative to supply non-Fonterra domestic competitors with raw milk, up to an annual cap of 50 million litres, were put in place as a condition of Fonterra's dominance.

"The raw milk regulations cost each of our farmers around $1000 a year, said Fonterra's Milk Supply Director, Barry Harris. "This is an important principle we have to defend."

Adam Anson

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 4 new features this week:

Support for On-farm Renewable Energy Schemes
The US has set some tough targets for renewable fuels and energy over the coming years, writes TheCattleSite senior editor, Chris Harris.

Keeping the Threat of Drug Resistant Cattle Nematodes at Bay
Anthelmintic management has so far kept the threat of cattle nematodes under control, but without advanced methods of prevention, growing resistance could open the box to a new set of problems, writes Adam Anson, TheCattleSite.

Pasture Aeration
Aeration -- a process by which soil is mechanically disturbed -- is commonly used to renovate established pastures with the objective of increasing forage production, writes Joao Vendramini and Maria Silveira, University of Florida IFAS Extension.

Forage Quality Goals for 2009
Composite data for 2008 haylages (Figure 1) shows that the average of legume and mixed haylages are very close to the target RFV of 150, writes Jim Paulson, University of Minnesota, Dairy Extension.

Company News

Inspiring International Innovations at VIV Europe 2010
NETHERLANDS - VIV Europe 2010 will be packed with inspiring international innovations for future farming, says the show organiser.

Global Dairy Cattle Industry News