Delegates arriving at the Fonterra AGM were greeted by a Greenpeace protest about the use of palm kernel as a stock feed. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Delegates to Fonterra's annual general meeting in New Plymouth have been greeted by a Greenpeace truck bearing banners calling for the use of palm kernel expeller as a stock feed to be phased out.
About half a dozen protesters gathered outside the conference venue, outnumbered about two-to-one by security staff and police.
Greenpeace agriculture campaigner Sineād Deighton-O'Flynn said stock feed's connection to the palm oil industry was problematic.
"This is an industry which is one of the key drivers of deforestation in South East Asia. It's notorious for human rights abuses and for destroying the habitats of endangered wildlife, the orangutan, the Sumatran tiger, the pygmy elephant."
Fonterra director of sustainability Charlotte Rutherford said the company respected the right to peacefully protest and it was working with its farmers to help reduce their use of palm kernel expeller.
"Fonterra farmers use (non-grass) feed supplements in limited quantities to help ensure cows consistently receive adequate nutrition and stay healthy.
"Palm Kernel Expeller (PKE) is a byproduct of the palm industry that would otherwise be wasted and used as a stock feed supplement which contains high levels of protein and energy and comprises less than 2 percent on average of our farmer shareholders' cows' overall diet."
Police prevented a truck displaying a protest banner from getting into the car park of the conference venue. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Rutherford said by ensuring cows received adequate nutrition, farmers could ensure their cows remained healthy and had a good milk supply.
Deighton-O'Flynn said palm kernel was a product in its own right and New Zealand was contributing millions upon millions of dollars every year to the palm industry by buying that product.
"The New Zealand intensive agriculture sector - lead by Fonterra - is actually the world's biggest importer of palm kernel expeller in the world. We are importing almost 2 million tonnes of the stuff every year to feed to the dairy herd."
Farmers upbeat
Meanwhile, Federated Farmers' dairy chief, Richard McIntyre, told Morning Report its members were feeling upbeat ahead of Fonterra's AGM with milk solids prices tipped to average $10 a kilo.
"I never try and get ahead of myself on these kinds of things. We've got to be really careful not to spend the money comes in if you know what I mean. This is just a forecast milk price at this stage and we won't actually know what it is until September/October next year."
McIntyre said the break even point for farmers was sitting at around the $8.50 per kilo milk solids mark.
"So, there is a bit of cream on top. So, it's incredibly encouraging and it's lifted the spirits of farmers and rural communities in general and we know businesses have been struggling for the last wee while with the downturn and that and also poor returns to farmers."
McIntyre said farmers would be using any extra funds to pay down debt and upgrade plant and machinery.
Milk production was also up.
"I know our friends in Otago have been struggling with the wet conditions but across the rest of the country things have been pretty good and milk production has reflected that and the world market has been absorbing that which hasn't always been the case, so it's always good to be getting good return when you've got good production as well."
McIntyre was not too concerned about the United States raising tariffs on imports.
"As you know there are plenty of promises made going into an election and there's what actually happens coming out of one, so we're taking a bit of a watching brief on this and we'll see what eventuates over time."
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