Fonterra FY26 Results: $9.69 Milk Price, $3.4bn Profit
Fonterra has unveiled its annual results for the 2026 financial year, posting $27 billion in revenue and close to $20 billion returned to New Zealand farmer owners and unit holders.
FONTERRA'S FENCEPOST smartphone app is being rolled out to farmer-approved farm consultants and on-farm staff.
The app has already been downloaded over 3500 times by farmers and sharemilkers.
The Fencepost app was launched for Fonterra's farmers in February. Now approved third-party Fencepost users, are able to download it too.
A New Zealand first, the free smartphone app gives farmers, and people they nominate, access to vital production and quality information wherever they are and at any time.
Fonterra director of milk supply, Steve Murphy, says farmer feedback has been very positive, especially around the easy access to milk production figures.
"The nature of farming means farmers are often away from their computers so they've really valued having this information on their smartphones. The new app means they can access confidential milk production and quality figures anywhere, anytime."
Waikato based farmer Chris Tomalin, left, manages three farms and says the app is great for time management. "I can grab that key information, from wherever I may be - out in the field or even off the farm. This means there's no time wasted heading back to log in to my computer.
"It also means that I can get that information much earlier in the day."
Murphy says the app represents a step forward for the co-op's quality assurance and service delivery to farmers.
"By supporting our farmers to check vital production and quality information from their smartphones, they are now able to make timelier on-farm decisions and can be alerted of any potential quality issues wherever they are."
Through the app, farmers, and now other approved Fencepost users, can access their relevant milk production and quality information from the last 10 days of milk collection, as well as month and season summaries.
The app is free and can be downloaded through the Apple App Store or Google Play.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (the College) and Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network are calling for investment in a proposed new training pathway for rural GPs, warning that many rural practices are struggling to recruit while a large share of the existing workforce nears retirement.
Federated Farmers has called on Central Otago District Council (CODC) to drop or vote down a plan to truck sludge from Alexandra and Cromwell to farmland near Lauder, warning it would compound an "outrageous" situation created by a separate council's decision weeks earlier.
Synlait has swung to second-half profit as operations stabilise, but the dairy processor still posted a $75.4m annual loss.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
OPINION: It seems Canterbury processor Synlait is still in the doldrums.
OPINION: Get offside with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters at your own peril.