Strong Interim Results See Fonterra Boost Farmgate Milk Price to $9.70/kgMS
Fonterra says its interim results show continued momentum in its performance, with revenue of $13.9 billion in the first half of the 2026 financial year.
Fonterra has passed the peak milk production this season without any hitches at its plants.
The co-op was expecting 90 million litres of milk daily at the peak, which normally runs between mid-October and end of October; milk supply has flattened at 88m L/day.
In recent years the co-op has been forced to dump buttermilk as milk supply exceeded production capacity at its plants.
Fonterra managing director global operations Robert Spurway told Rural News it had come "very very close" to peak milk target.
"Based on current weather and volume, we have passed the peak, only just," he says.
Spurway says milk supply has become flat at top of the curve; the co-op has been collecting 55 million litres of milk in the North Island and 33m L in the South Island at the peak.
He says milk supply has been strong, thanks to very good grass growth.
"In my talk with farmers, they seem to be very happy with grass growth.
"We have seen milk supply right through the shoulders of the season and leading up to the peak 5% ahead of forecast."
Fonterra says its interim results show continued momentum in its performance, with revenue of $13.9 billion in the first half of the 2026 financial year.
New Zealand's diverse cheesemaking talent shone brightly last night as the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) crowned the champions of the 2026 New Zealand Cheese Awards.
Tracing has indicated that the source of the first velvetleaf find of the 2025-26 crop season, in Auckland, was likely maize purchased in the Waikato region.
Fish & Game New Zealand has announced its election priorities in its Manifesto 2026.
With the forage maize harvest started in Northland and the Waikato, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) is telling growers of later crops, or those further south, to start checking their maize crop maturity about three weeks prior to when they think they will start silage harvesting.
Irrigation NZ is warning that the government's Resource Management Act (RMA) reform risks falling short of its objectives unless water use for food production and water storage infrastructure are clearly recognised in the goals at the top of the new system.

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