increase font size
Andrew Hoggard, Federated Farmers.
Federated Farmers say the 8.8% drop in the Global Dairy Trade yesterday will be disappointing to New Zealand dairy farmers but it is important not to jump to conclusions.
Dairy Chair Andrew Hoggard says, “Farmers have no control over the markets, along with a number of other things that impact us. That is the nature of farming so it is always hard to accurately predict the reasons for these drops, which ultimately affects our bottom lines.”
“To be honest I wasn’t expecting such a big drop with the previous lifts in GDT, but that just goes to show how unpredictable the market is.”
Hoggard says there is a lot of speculation of why the price has fallen, and currently all indicators point to a supply issue. However, until the experts have had time to analyse it, it is hard to know for sure.
“Regardless of where it has come from, this is not great for farmer confidence, and hopes of getting back to a $6 plus payout next season will be lower if we don’t see continuing lifts in the next few auctions.”
Confidence is something that will also need to be addressed with Fonterra’s organic milk announcement.
“Fonterra’s expansion of its organic milk business and increased payout to those certified will be welcome news for our organic dairy farmers. We just hope that Fonterra will give more certainty to those farmers than they have in the past,” says Hoggard.
“Only a few years ago Fonterra signalled the organic premium for some areas in the country would be dropped as it wasn’t viable for their business. These mixed signals don’t help organic farmers in their planning as certification can take a number of years.”
“In light of everything, it is important that farmers don’t jump to conclusions too early and just get on with what they can control, which is putting sustainable milk in the vat.” Hoggard concludes.
OPINION: Recent media commentary from Southland Federated Farmers has raised concerns among our rural communities, particularly around Environment Southland’s approach to winter grazing inspections and nitrogen reporting. But let’s be clear, much of what’s been said simply doesn’t reflect reality.
OPINION: Environment Canterbury's (ECan) decision recently to declare a so-called “nitrate emergency” is laughable.
A shameless political stunt is how Federated Farmers is describing the Canterbury Regional Council decision to declare “a nitrate emergency” on the back of its latest annual groundwater quality survey.
Federated Farmers say Environment Canterbury's decision to declare a 'nitrate emergency' is a shameless political stunt that won't help anyone.
Farmers want the Government to scrap controversial freshwater rules that "put river spirits and ideology ahead of practical water use", says Federated Farmers board member Mark Hooper.
Many farmers around the country are taking advantage of the high dairy payout to get maximum production out of their cows.
In 2015, the signing of a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge, and Lincoln University saw the start of an exciting new chapter for Owl Farm as the first demonstration dairy farm in the North Island. Ten years on, the joint venture is still going strong.
Sheep milk processor Maui Milk is on track to record average ewe production of 500 litres by 2030, says outgoing chief executive Greg Hamill.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton is calling for cross-party consensus on the country's overarching environmental goals.
Changes to New Zealand’s postal service has left rural communities disappointed.
Alliance is urging its farmer-shareholders to have their say on the proposed $250 million strategic investment partnership with Dawn Meats Group.
The nutters of the green world, aided and abetted by the lamestream media, are rewriting the English language for the worse.
OPINION: The self righteous activists at Greenpeace are copying the self-righteous lefties behind the ‘free Palestine’ movement – not surprising given…
