Another record milk price for Tatua suppliers
Independent Waikato milk processor Tatua has set another new record for conventional farmgate milk price paid to New Zealand farmers.
Independent milk processor Tatua has again shown Fonterra and other milk processors a clean pair of heels in the milk payout race.
The small Morrinsville processor has paid its farmer suppliers a record $12.30/kgMS for milk supplied last season. The previous season, it paid farmers $11.30/kgMS.
Tatua retained $2.90/kgMS for reinvestment last season compared to $1.35/kgMS the previous one.
Fonterra and Synlait have paid their suppliers a milk price of $8.22/kgMS. Fonterra also paid a dividend of 50c/share and recently returned another 50c/share to shareholders and unitholders, taking its total payout to $9.22/share-backed kgMS. Synlait also paid on average of $0.27/kgMS for incentives, taking its total average milk payment to $8.49/kgMS.
In a joint statement, Tatua chairman Stephen Allen and chief executive Brendhan Greaney say they are pleased to report that the business has had another good year.
“In deciding our payout, we have sought to balance the needs of our shareholders farming businesses, in an environment where costs have increased well beyond mainstream inflation, and our need to continue to invest in the business while also maintaining balance sheet strength.”
The Government is looking at intervening on behalf of Waikato farmers who face new regulations around agricultural land use while Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms are underway.
The country's second largest milk processor, Open Country Dairy, is building a butter plant at its Awarua site in Invercargill.
After 25 years it is the right time to step away, says Colin Glass, the retiring chief executive of New Zealand's largest private corporate dairying company, Dairy Holdings.
Politicians calling for New Zealand to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate risk damaging two of our gold-plated free trade deals.
Tickets are now available for the 2026 Arable Awards, set to be held in Christchurch on 20th August.
Environment Southland is calling on residents to be vigilant and check their properties after a new Old Man's Beard site was discovered near Dipton.
OPINION: Reckless action by Greenpeace in 2024 forced Fonterra to shut down a drying plant for four hours, costing the co-op…
OPINION: The global crusade against fossil fuel is gaining momentum in some regions.