Dairy

Increased capital requirements for New Zealand’s banks will lead to higher interest rates and less appetite to lend to sectors like agriculture.

NAB and Dairy Australia said continuing high input costs, exacerbated by drought, have led to a decline in production, with further falls expected this year.

AgFunder founding partner Rob Leclerc says his firm’s dedicated alternative protein fund has attracted incumbents from the meat and dairy space who see the fledgling market as ‘a hedge’.

The NZ co-operative has taken its stake to 99.9% and has offered to buy the remaining 0.1 percent, with the Chilean business recently impacted by ‘challenging market conditions’.

Chief executive Perry Vieth says LPs in the targeted $25m first close for Ceres Sustainable Food and Agriculture Opportunity Fund II will be offered reduced management and incentive fees.

Perfect Day uses fermentation to create animal-free dairy products such as cheese and ice cream to overcome dietary and sustainability challenges.

The national body for Australia’s dairy sector has called for 'better targeting' of different investor groups, including institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals, to attract more capital into the industry.

The meat, fish and dairy sector’s efforts to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions makes for grim reading, with each stat in the Coller FAIRR Index more surprising than the last.

Rural Bank warns that the outlook for 2019-20 is ‘mixed’ and impressive growth in cattle exports this year was largely driven by an increase in production due to drought-induced destocking.

Confidence in dairy is now higher than it is for other commodities, but farmers in drought-stricken areas are seeing potential profits from higher milk prices being eroded by the costs of water and feed imports.