Strong production, tested demand send milk prices crashing
Strong global milk production and rebalancing of demand among key buyers has delivered one of the biggest drops in whole milk powder prices in recent years.
THE FUTURE profitability of dairy farming in the wake of falling international prices for dairy products is likely to be a hot topic when DairyNZ goes to Timaru next week for its annual meeting.
DairyNZ is holding its AGM in South Canterbury next Thursday, October 16, at 11am at the Grosvenor Hotel in Timaru.
DairyNZ chairman John Luxton says it's the first time DairyNZ has held an AGM in South Canterbury.
DairyNZ has an annual budget of $89 million comprised of its levy on dairy farmers and other research funding, says Mr Luxton.
Luxton says the next season will be a tough one for farmers because of the forecast lower milk price. "But the long term prospects are still strong for dairying, and we have an industry strategy for delivering another $3.7 billion worth of additional export earnings to the New Zealand economy by 2020."
Luxton says a lot of that DairyNZ's budget goes into research, environmental initiatives and the development of innovative technologies and solutions to meet the future needs of dairy farms. "Now with the looming prospect of a lower milk price, dairy farmers will be focused on reducing production costs. It's a timely reminder of the volatility of our industry."
Luxton says last season the payout was the highest on record and farmers in South Canterbury increased their milk production by about 7% 90 million kgMS. That yielded $700 million in milk production revenue for the area. That's money that circulates in a community because nearly half a farmer's milk income is spent on farm working expenses like feed, seed, fertiliser, animal health, staff and maintenance.
"There are more than 1900 people employed in the South Canterbury dairy sector and that's around 7.4% of regional employment. And that's not including all the self-employed farm owners and sharemilkers running dairy farm businesses locally. Fonterra's Clandeboye manufacturing site has more than 800 staff and processes up to 13.2 million litres of milk per day. This equates to more than 40% of all milk collected by Fonterra in the South Island. Dairying is a big part of the local economy and we need it to be a resilient industry that can withstand fluctuating milk prices.
"The new Oceania dairy factory built in Glenavy shows confidence in dairying in the region. The construction and running of this plant will provide considerable economic benefit for the region and it will employ around 70 people at peak production," he says.
"Everyone needs dairying to remain competitive, but we know that we also need to farm responsibly and focus on reducing our environmental impact.
"We want to make dairy farming work for everyone so a lot of our focus at DairyNZ is on helping farmers with how to farm profitably but with a lower environmental footprint.
"That's a pretty topical issue in Canterbury at the moment because of the new Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan. We've been reviewing all the technical work to understand the implications for dairy farmers so we can give them good advice," says Luxton.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
A tiny organism from the arid mountains of mainland Greece is facilitating a new way of growing healthier animals on farms across New Zealand.
OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having…
OPINION: The Gene Technology Bill has divided the farming community with strong arguments on both the pros and cons of…