Fonterra Whareroa sets cheese record, wins top award
Fonterra Whareroa wrapped up a successful season with a record-breaking cheese production volume and several gongs at the co-op's annual Best Site Cup awards.
Fonterra Cooperative Group's half year results mean it could be on track for revenue of $20 billion.
"At this point last year Fonterra's half-year profit was $293 million, but in 2012, that's grown to $346 million," says Willy Leferink, Federated Farmers Dairy chairperson. "The big question for farmer-shareholders is whether the year's back end will remain as strong."
Declining results on Fonterra's GlobalDairyTrade auction platform back up opinion that soft commodities are undergoing a price correction, while the kiwi is high against the US dollar reducing farmgate returns even further.
"If the high dollar continues, it will start to cause problems," says Leferink. He says farmers should base their budgets on less than $6 per kilogram of milksolids. Anything more is "extremely brave".
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.
A leading financial and banking advisor says he doubts if most dairy farmers fully understand the dynamics of banking.
Dairy farmers are shoring up their balance sheets, with almost $1.7 billion of debt repaid in the six months to March 2025.
Virtual fencing company Halter is going global but for founder Craig Piggott, New Zealand farmers will always remain their main partners.
A former Fonterra executive is the new chair of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ).
New Federated Farmers national dairy chair Karl Dean is looking forward to tackling the issues facing the sector.
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