MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Landcorp to Stop Using Palm By-product
Landcorp to Stop Using Palm By-product
08/08/2016 (NZCity) - State-owned enterprise Landcorp will stop using palm kernel expeller and transition to alternative feed supplements from June next year.
The shift from the by-product of palm oil extraction is expected to be cost-neutral while showing customers Landcorp farms sustainably, chief executive Steven Carden says.
The imported product has been used by dairy farmers as a feed supplement during winter or seasonal droughts.
"We need to anticipate shifting consumer expectations on how their food is produced and change how we farm accordingly," he said.
Landcorp manages 140 farms across New Zealand, making it the country's largest corporate farmer.
Currently only 40 per cent of Landcorp farms use PKE, with the product making up only four per cent of total dairy cow diets.
At its peak in 2013/14 PKE made up six per cent of a cow's diet.
Green groups have opposed the use of PKE because it is the product of the clearance of rainforests in South East Asia.
The Green Party's environment spokeswoman Eugenie Sage says Landcorp's decision signals a "welcome shift" to a more sustainable farming model and "a recognition of the major flaws of ever-increasing dairy intensification, for both the environment and farm profitability".
"We need to be less focused on squeezing more and more cows on the same bit of land, and more focused on sustainable farming and extracting a price premium for our products," Ms Sage said.
"Landcorp's decision is a step towards this and we call on Fonterra to encourage its suppliers to follow suit."
Greenpeace has also welcomed the move after seven years of campaigning.
"Landcorp's decision marks a significant turnaround for both the protection of South East Asia's rainforests and for the way New Zealand farms," spokesman Grant Rosoman said, adding that the loss of habitat was pushing orangutans and Sumatran tigers toward extinction.
"It's not a good look for Kiwi farms to be linked to the destruction of the world's last remaining rainforests."
Mr Rosoman said he hoped the decision would prompt other farm groups, including Fonterra, to follow suit.
The shift from the by-product of palm oil extraction is expected to be cost-neutral while showing customers Landcorp farms sustainably, chief executive Steven Carden says.
The imported product has been used by dairy farmers as a feed supplement during winter or seasonal droughts.
"We need to anticipate shifting consumer expectations on how their food is produced and change how we farm accordingly," he said.
Landcorp manages 140 farms across New Zealand, making it the country's largest corporate farmer.
Currently only 40 per cent of Landcorp farms use PKE, with the product making up only four per cent of total dairy cow diets.
At its peak in 2013/14 PKE made up six per cent of a cow's diet.
Green groups have opposed the use of PKE because it is the product of the clearance of rainforests in South East Asia.
The Green Party's environment spokeswoman Eugenie Sage says Landcorp's decision signals a "welcome shift" to a more sustainable farming model and "a recognition of the major flaws of ever-increasing dairy intensification, for both the environment and farm profitability".
"We need to be less focused on squeezing more and more cows on the same bit of land, and more focused on sustainable farming and extracting a price premium for our products," Ms Sage said.
"Landcorp's decision is a step towards this and we call on Fonterra to encourage its suppliers to follow suit."
Greenpeace has also welcomed the move after seven years of campaigning.
"Landcorp's decision marks a significant turnaround for both the protection of South East Asia's rainforests and for the way New Zealand farms," spokesman Grant Rosoman said, adding that the loss of habitat was pushing orangutans and Sumatran tigers toward extinction.
"It's not a good look for Kiwi farms to be linked to the destruction of the world's last remaining rainforests."
Mr Rosoman said he hoped the decision would prompt other farm groups, including Fonterra, to follow suit.