SFF boss smart in getting PGG to help pay for Rissington...

It's just a little too much of a co-incidence...Keith Cooper and Silver Fern Farms takes PGG Wrightson to the cleaners after Norgate reneged on a merger deal but says the livestock company are still the preferred option for an integrated supply chain partnership option.

Now SFF has cosied up to Rissington in a new deal by merging livestock and marketing staff from the North Island genetics company into SFF, to provide advice and knowledge to lamb suppliers wanting to produce lamb to SFF's contract specifications. In short Rissington will take the place of PGG Wrightson.

The two companies have had a working relationship for several years, with SFF processing lambs for Rissington Marks and Spencer contracts so you have to wonder if SFF was really interested in seeing through a deal with PGG in the first place.

And the $25 million pay-out settlement from PGG would come as a handy deposit on the new acquisition wouldn't it?

As Farmgirl has said before, Keith Cooper is one of the shrewdest CEO's in the country. Perhaps the Pork Board should entice him to jump ship...

Merger of Lincoln University and AgResearch a no-brainer

Yesterday's announcement of a proposed merger between Lincoln University and AgResearch is positive and will ultimately reap rewards for agriculture.

Having a world class scientific land based university will lure research contracts and overseas scientists and could ultimately produce some significant results.

The proposal also signals a move in the right direction with many concerned the University has been moving steadily away from its core agricultural base. This merger may alleviate that concern and put agriculture to the fore of scientific development in this country.

While the merger is expected to cost around $2.5 million to complete it will save the same amount year as well as attracting $50 million plus in additional revenue each year and it provides the University with a security it has been lacking over the past decade.