Milk price certainty
Westland Milk has reaffirmed its commitment to pay farmer suppliers 10c above Fonterra farm gate milk price for the following two seasons.
The news comes at the end of a hard season for Coast farmers hit by low payouts and bad weather.
Most of the region’s cows are now dried off, but many have been down to once-a-day milking for months. WMP general manager shareholder services Tony Wright says at the end of May milk production was down by 42.2 million litres on the previous season, a drop of 5.72%.
Chiefly this was because a cold, wet spring in 2016 was followed by very wet conditions until February 2017. Some areas had double their normal rainfall and their wettest season for 20 years, hard on stock and farmers.
“These adverse growing conditions impacted on pasture quality and cows’ milk production throughout the West Coast. Farmers have done an exceptional job of keeping their animals in good condition in this trying period, keeping a close eye on animal welfare and ensuring their stock were still ready for calving. This will also ensure cows are in top condition for upping production to take advantage of higher payouts for 2017-18,” he says.
The drop in production was expected and Westland has been able to partially compensate for the shortfall with bought-in milk.
Meanwhile WMP chief executive Toni Brendish is expected soon to start announcing changes to the company’s management structure. News of at least one appointment is imminent and others will follow, part of the review of WMP by its board and Brendish, who took over late last year.
