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Edendale had three new plants come online in August.
Fonterra says its new processing plants have helped process more than 86.9 million litres of milk on the co-op's biggest day of the year – October 22.
Managing director global operations, Robert Spurway, says the additional capacity has given the co-op more options in its product mix.
"Getting the most out of large volumes comes down to having the capacity to process every drop of our farmers' milk while also striking the right balance between our ingredients and foodservice capabilities.
"This season we've been able to bring new plants online to drive greater value into both of these parts of the business," says Spurway.
A new dryer at Pahiatua and three plants at Edendale came online in August, delivering more capacity and operational efficiency in milk powders, while a new mozzarella plant at Clandeboye has doubled the co-op's capacity for one of its most in-demand foodservice products.
"We now have more options around how and where we process our milk meaning we can prioritise milk into higher margin products," says Spurway.
This also better equips Fonterra to satisfy growing and diversifying customer demand, while also being more responsive to changing market trends, he says.
To ensure milk is always directed to the products that will deliver the best returns for farmer shareholders, Fonterra reviews its product mix and priorities every 24 hours according to market demand, incoming milk volumes, product value and costs such as transport and logistics.
Further expansion is currently underway at Fonterra sites in Lichfield and Eltham to add a new milk powder dryer and slice-on-slice cheese lines respectively, with these new developments on track to be up and running in time for the 2016 peak.
Research lending to the production of dairy products that benefit the elderly and improves the overall wellbeing of all people is a key focus of Fonterra's Research and Development centre, based in Palmerston North.
Milk processors are either matching or beating Fonterra's record $10/kgMS opening forecast milk price as the 2025-26 season gets underway.
Fonterra has announced a record forecast opening organic milk price of $12.30/kgMS for the new season.
Australian dairy farmers supplying Fonterra are getting an opening weighted average milk price of A$8.60/kgMS for the new season or around NZ$9.26/kgMS - NZ74c less than New Zealand suppliers, based on the current exchange rate.
A record $10/kgMS opening forecast milk price for the new season means more money into Fonterra farmers pockets early, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre.
More Australian states are embracing virtual fencing technology, opening growth opportunities for Kiwi companies like Halter.
Dairy farmers are set to benefit from the radical sweeping changes the Government is planning to make to the regulations that form part of the Resource Management Act (RMA).
The reported surge in interest in dairy conversions should be put into the context of falling overall cow numbers and improving environmental performance, says DairyNZ.
New Zealand's top trade official has told dairy farmers that their sector faces the most trade barriers internationally.
Waikato sharemilker Matthew Zonderop had no inkling that one day he would become a matchmaker for cows.
The coveted post of Federated Farmers' national dairy chair will see a two-way contest at the Federated Farmers annual meeting later this month.
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