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 has delivered a fifth straight year of record organic milk price for farmer suppliers.
Last week, the co-op confirmed a final organic milk price of $12.35/kgMS for the 2024-25 season, which ended May 31 this year. Fonterra’s highest organic milk price to date was in 2023-24 which set a record of $10.92/kgMS.
Anne Douglas, group director Farm Source, says this marks a fifth straight year of organic milk price increases, reflecting an incredibly positive demand story for the high-quality milk our farmers supply every day.
“Organic dairy sales have experienced strong growth, particularly in the US. Additional tariffs on imports into the US did present us with challenges in FY25, however, these were largely able to be passed through to our customers due to the firm demand,” Douglas told Dairy News.
“Favourable market conditions saw our FY25 organic sales increase 27% year on year, while the co-op’s organic milk collections were also up 7.5% to 9.7 million kgMS.”
The co-op’s organics business has been running since 2002 and continues to grow in supply, product range and value.
Over the last 4-5 years, the programme has more than doubled in size and currently includes more than 100 farms.
Today, the business is in a strong position, says Fonterra, as it makes the most of market conditions, including growing consumer demand as well as supply constraints globally.
Organic farmers earn a premium, and there’s also a benefit to all Fonterra farmers because around 20% of the programme’s revenue goes back to the co-op as a contribution to shared overheads and earnings.
Pāmu has released its FY26 Integrated Annual Report, reporting a Net Operating Profit of $113 million, more than double the $49 million recorded in FY25.
Meat Industry Association data, released alongside the Red Meat Sector conference in Wellington, shows export value climbing across the US, China, UK and Canada.
Applications are set to open for the 2027 Zanda McDonald Award, a trans-Tasman award recognised for identifying and fast-tracking talented young leaders in agriculture and agribusiness.
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.
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