A rollercoaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
In a pre-Christmas press release reminding the public that while they “kick back” this holiday season, 13,350 members of the Fonterra family will be in the dairy shed, on the road and running the Co-operative’s 28 manufacturing sites.
“On Christmas day all of our 10,500 farmers will be putting the milking cups on; 850 drivers will be on the road; 1,800 manufacturing staff will be on site and 200 supply chain staff will be packing our export containers,” says managing director trade and operations Gary Romano.
“The good weather conditions have meant the milk is still really flowing. We broke production records in October – we collected a record 81.5 million litres on our biggest day which is not only higher than last year’s record, it’s also the first time in the Co-op’s history that we’ve collected more than 80 million litres in one day.
“We’re still collecting, processing and shipping around 10 per cent more milk than last year. In March this year, we exported a record 229,000 tonnes of product for the month. If things carry on the way they are in December, we’re on track to export close to 240,000 tonnes.”
