Westpac Urges Farmers to Prepare Now for El Niño Drought
Westpac NZ is calling on farmers and growers to start preparing now for the possibility of a dry summer, as likely El Niño conditions raise the risk of drought across parts of the country.
Commenting on last night Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction results, Gordon says there was a mild 0.4% fall in dairy prices.
“The product mix was effectively a mirror image of the previous auction, with a 2.6% rise in whole milk powder prices but declines for most other products.
“We’re expecting a modest fall in dairy prices over the rest of this year, as global milk production bounces back from last year’s depressed levels. Global demand continues to grow at a subdued pace, and stockpiles of milk powder remain substantial, especially in Europe.
“Russia recently extended its ban on food imports from the EU until the end of 2018, though it has yet to make a decision on the ban from other Western markets, which currently runs to the end of this year.”
Key Results AMF index down 3.5%, average price US$6,596/MT Butter index down 0.1%, average price US$5,775/MT BMP index up 10.8%, average price US$2,264/MT Ched index down 3.2%, average price US$4,051/MT LAC index down 3.3%, average price US$839/MT RenCas index down 2.7%, average price US$6,133/MT SMP index down 4.5%, average price US$2,090/MT WMP index up 2.6%, average price US$3,111/MT
