CountryWide CONNECT

This episode features Paul Henry, ACT Party Candidate discussing ACT’s pledge to disestablish the Climate Change Commission and what that would mean for climate policy.

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Lactalis extends lead as world's largest dairy company

Wool Impact and Campaign for Wool NZ merge to form New Zealand Wool Collective

Maui Sheep Milk lifts payout as sector looks to expand


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Lactalis extends lead as world's largest dairy company
French dairy giant Lactalis has reinforced its position as the world's largest dairy company, with annual turnover exceeding forty billion US dollars — more than sixteen billion ahead of Nestlé in second place, according to Rabobank's 2026 Global Dairy Top 20 report.
The gap widened significantly following Lactalis' acquisition of Fonterra's Mainland consumer business in Asia-Pacific, adding an estimated three-point-four billion US dollars to its revenue.
For Fonterra, the divestment has seen it drop from seventh to tenth in the global rankings — a deliberate strategic shift toward higher-return ingredients and foodservice rather than consumer brands. Analyst Michael Harvey says the simpler portfolio is expected to generate stronger and more consistent returns for farmer-owners.
The combined turnover of the world's twenty largest dairy companies rose five-point-four percent in 2025 to two-hundred-and-sixty-seven billion US dollars, with consolidation a dominant theme — including the Arla-DMK merger and FrieslandCampina's merger with Milcobel.
Harvey says future industry leaders will combine scale with innovation and value-added products.

Wool Impact and Campaign for Wool NZ merge to form New Zealand Wool Collective
Two of New Zealand's leading wool promotion organisations have formally merged, creating a single sector-led body to focus on growing the value of New Zealand wool for growers and industry.
The New Zealand Wool Collective brings together Wool Impact and Campaign for Wool NZ, building on two years of partnership between the organisations. Chief executive Ross McIsaac says the sector has long called for one focused voice, and the merger addresses that frustration directly.
The merged organisation will continue the programmes of both predecessors, while working to secure longer-term funding from the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand and Beef and Lamb New Zealand. A funding model is being developed in consultation with growers and industry.
McIsaac says this is work no individual company can do on its own — the Collective will strengthen the platform the wider industry builds on, not replace the commercial work already underway.

Maui Sheep Milk lifts payout as sector looks to expand
Maui Sheep Milk is lifting its average payout to seventeen-eighteen per kilogram of milk solids, as the company looks to support its eight suppliers through ongoing farm inflation and rising input costs.
Chief executive Malcolm Edward says feed costs like maize grain have jumped from two-hundred-and-fifty dollars to six-hundred dollars a tonne since 2020, with production costs now running between twelve and fifteen dollars per kilogram of milk solids depending on the farm system.
The company has also restructured its payment model to better reward higher production volumes, reduce transport cost cross-subsidisation and open the door to suppliers beyond its traditional Waikato base.
Maui is actively seeking new suppliers for the 2027-28 season, with Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa identified as growth regions. Output is primarily exported to China for children's and adult nutrition products, where soaring demand is driving expansion.
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New report shows dairy sector delivers twenty-eight-point-eight billion in export earnings

NZ wine shows resilience as global market contracts

Virtual farm visits connecting more than a thousand students with real farmers


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New report shows dairy sector delivers twenty-eight-point-eight billion in export earnings
New Zealand's dairy sector remains the country's largest export earner and one of its most important economic contributors, according to updated analysis released today by Sense Partners.
Commissioned by DairyNZ and the Dairy Companies Association, the report confirms dairy exports reached twenty-eight-point-eight billion dollars in the year to December 2025 — and since 2021, the sector has delivered eight-point-three billion dollars in additional export revenue, contributing nearly half of New Zealand's total goods export growth over that period.
The sector directly employs more than fifty-one-thousand people, with its impact felt most strongly in regional New Zealand. One in four jobs in South Taranaki is a dairy job, dairy delivers twelve percent of West Coast GDP, and nearly fifty percent of wages paid in Waimate district come from the sector.
DairyNZ head of economics Mark Storey says backing dairy means backing regional communities and a more productive New Zealand — well beyond the farm gate.

NZ wine shows resilience as global market contracts
New Zealand wine exports are holding their ground in a tough global environment, with volumes growing to more than three-hundred-and-six million litres in the year to June — though average prices have softened to six-eighty-eight per litre, down from seven-twenty-seven the previous year.
Export value was essentially flat at two-point-one billion dollars, up just half a percent, as the industry navigates what NZ Winegrowers general manager Charlotte Read describes as a period of significant reset.
Across the Tasman, Australia's wine exports sank to a twenty-two-year low, falling below six-hundred million litres for the first time since 2004.
New Zealand is outperforming key competitors in several markets — UK volumes rose sixteen percent while Australia's fell six percent, and China was a standout with New Zealand volumes up seventy-two percent to sixty-nine million dollars.
US tariff uncertainty and softening consumer demand remain headwinds, with New Zealand's US exports down five percent in volume.

Virtual farm visits connecting more than a thousand students with real farmers
More than a thousand primary school students are getting regular live farm visits — without leaving their classrooms — through the Beef and Lamb New Zealand-funded Farmer Time for Schools programme.
In 2025, one-thousand-and-seventy-five students and forty-three teachers connected with thirty-nine farmers across New Zealand through live online field trips covering sheep, beef, dairy, vegetables, bees, deer and more.
Beef and Lamb New Zealand is calling for agriculture to be included in the Year zero to eight curriculum.
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This episode features Craig "Dairyman" Hickman & Willie Bell discussing the issues and developments currently on the minds of farmers.

WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command ‘Play CountryWide Connect’ on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.

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This episode features Chad Hoggard, Director of On Farm Support, MPI discussing new scholarships aimed at boosting on-the-ground support for farmers and growers.

WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command ‘Play CountryWide Connect’ on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881
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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.