"Our" business?
OPINION: One particular bone the Hound has been gnawing on for years now is how the chattering classes want it both ways when it comes to the success of NZ's dairy industry.
Fonterra’s reliable supply chain and strong demand from China and South East Asia are helping drive dairy prices up, says co-op chief executive Miles Hurrell.
In an email to farmer suppliers, Hurrell described the overnight Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction results as “pretty extraordinary”.
The GDT price index jumped 15% compared to the previous auction, its eight consecutive price rise.
Whole milk powder prices, used by Fonterra to set its milk payout, rose a whopping 21% to US$4364/MT, a seven-year high.
Hurrell says farmers would be keen to know what the latest result means for Fonterra’s farmgate milk price.
The co-op is forecasting a milk price range of $6.90-$7.50/kgMS and earnings range of 25 to 35c/share.
“We are now assessing the situation, running the numbers on our forecast farmgate milk price and talking to our sales teams on the ground in our markets to understand further what they are seeing, regarding future demand,” he says.
“While GDT results are one key input to the farmgate milk price, there are many other factors we need to consider – including, how far we are through the season, our sales book, foreign exchange and any ongoing impacts from COVID-19.”
Hurrell says an increase in dairy prices was expected, as reflected by the NZX Whole Milk Powder futures contract yesterday being at $3,790/MT or a 5.7% increase on the 17 February GDT event.
“However, a lift of 21% was not anticipated,” he says.
“We’ve continued to see strong demand for dairy from China and South East Asia, and participation was high last night.
“The relative reliability of our supply chain versus that of others means buyers trust we will be able to get our product to them and that’s also helping drive further demand for our products.”
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…