Danube blues

Kiwis’ cool move

NEW Zealand’s three-year Cool Sheep program is winding up with something more permanent than another emissions report. Methane breeding values and an Emissions Index have been incorporated into New Zealand’s national genetic evaluation, allowing farmers to select rams partly for lower methane production alongside the usual productivity traits. Large-scale sire genotyping undertaken through the program has also improved breeding-value accuracy for health and production traits.

El Nino warning

FONTERRA has warned that the strengthening El Niño poses a risk to New Zealand milk-production growth in 2026-27, even as the dairy giant forecasts underlying earnings of NZ65–85c a share. The company is simultaneously planning NZ$1 billion of investment over three years in South Island protein-processing capacity. That combination is interesting: Fonterra is investing heavily for long-term global protein demand while warning that pasture and milk supply remain vulnerable to weather.

Chinese milk target

CHINA’S new five-year livestock plan sets a relatively modest 2030 milk-production target of 43 million tonnes, compared with 41.69 million tonnes in 2025. The more important change is philosophical: policy is shifting from simple production expansion towards lower costs, greater efficiency, better quality and increased use of technology. China is enormously important to Australasian dairy, so a more productive domestic Chinese dairy industry is worth watching just as closely as changes in Chinese consumption.

Environment cash

BRITAIN has opened another £233 million round of its Sustainable Farming Incentive, paying farmers for actions intended to combine food production with environmental improvement. About 7000 applications arrived in the first 2026 window and 3100 agreements were operating by September 1. The interesting comparison for Australia is not whether Britain has discovered environmental farm payments but the scale at which public money is being shifted from traditional agricultural support into contracts paying landholders for measurable land-management actions.

Cocoa takes over

BRAZIL is encouraging cattle producers on degraded Amazon pasture to switch land into cocoa agroforestry, combining cocoa with native trees in an attempt to lift farm incomes while restoring forest. Some participating smallholders have reportedly lifted productivity by about 30 per cent in their first year and income by 60 per cent over three years. But soaring cocoa prices are creating another problem: concern that conventional cocoa plantations could replace forest under the guise of restoration.