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Robert Spurway.
Fonterra is giving farmers the option to fix the price of some of their milk.
The co-op is introducing a new tool called Fixed Milk Price. It joins a set of seven of Fonterra’s financial tools and aims to assist farmers with budgeting, planning, and managing on-farm profitability.
Farm Source and global operations chief operating officer Robert Spurway says the co-op is committed to making a difference for Fonterra farmers and providing flexible options to help them share up, invest on farm, and manage financial exposure.
“This season reminds us of the volatility in the global marketplace and the impact it can have on the milk price. While the co-op manages this volatility as best it can when selling our products, we recognise that it’s farmers who feel the brunt of it.
“In addition to providing farmers with the opportunity to get more price certainty, the Fixed Milk Price will also provide the co-operative with certainty on the margins it can achieve on a portion of milk supplied. It’s a win-win,” says Spurway.
How it will work
- All Fonterra farmers will have the opportunity to participate on a monthly basis (excluding January and February)
- The Fixed Milk Price will be referenced to the NZX Milk Futures Market, minus a service fee of no more than 10c/kgMS initially
- Over the course of a season, farmers will be able to fix up to 50% of their estimated milk production per farm
- Fonterra will make at least 1 million kgMS available at every event and up to a total of 5% of New Zealand milk supply available in a given season
OPINION: There is zero chance that someone who joined Fonterra as a lobbyist, then served as a general manager of Fonterra's nutrient management programme, and sat on the board of Export NZ, a division of lobbyist group Business New Zealand, doesn't understand that local butter (and milk and cheese) prices are set by the international commodity price.
Kiwis love their butter, and that's great because New Zealand produces some of the best butter in the world. But when the price of butter goes up, it's tough for some, particularly when many other grocery staples have also gone up and the heat goes on co-operative Fonterra, the country's main butter maker. Here the co-op explains why butter prices are so high right now.
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