NZ dairy sector booming
While SA dairy farmers are going bankrupt, New Zealand’s giant dairy cooperative Fonterra cites unprecedented global dairy market prices as it raises its forecast payout for the current season by 20c to NZ,35/kg milk solids.
Chairperson Henry van der Heyden predicts the payout next season will be more than NZ if current prices hold. “As we secure contracts at record prices we are able to pass on the gains to farmers,” he said. “We’re now confident that if current exchange rates hold, next season’s payout will have a in front of it.” ANZ Bank said world prices for New Zealand commodity exports surged to a record, mainly thanks to high dairy prices. They’ve been boosted by restricted supply, including the Australian drought, growth in demand, and a change in product mix in the European Union. The bank said the world price of dairy products increased 11,8% in April, up 58% from where they were a year earlier. – Alan Harman
Pet food crisis worsens
The pet food contamination crisis spreading across the US has now reached the pork and poultry industries as cat and dog owners fear for the lives of their animals and lawyers embark on massive class action lawsuits. USDA and US Food and Drug Administration officials say the imported rice protein concentrate found to contain melamine and melamine-related compounds was included in pig and chicken feed as well as cat and dog foods. The nitrogen-rich chemical melamine is used to make resins and is a byproduct of several pesticides. It is said to have caused acute kidney failure in dozens of pets that died or were sickened after eating the contaminated pet food. – Alan Harman
