Dairy farmers will be bracing for sombre news from Fonterra this Wednesday.

To call it a perfect storm trivialises the difficulties primary producers are facing in the balance between environment, welfare (human and animal) and economics. 

Australian sheep farmers are banking on strong prices lamb in the coming years, but are warning of headwinds.

Milk New Zealand Holding Ltd, which took over the Crafar Farms, has been lauded as a “great example” of the success of foreign investment in NZ at the NZ China Trade Association (NZCTA) Business Awards.

The payout to dairy farmers next season is unlikely to improve over the current season, says KPMG’s global head of agri, Ian Proudfoot.

Trade minister Tim Groser has a controversial message for dairy farmers – volatility is their friend. The industry has lived with it for 130 years, he says. 

The Reserve Bank says the outlook for global milk prices is highly uncertain and the financial stress on the dairy industry could rise markedly if prices remain at current low levels in the 2015-16 season.

Work is complete on a new mozzarella plant at Fonterra's Clandeboye site, doubling production of the cheese and creating enough mozzarella to top more than 300 million pizzas a year.

The North Island wool auction this week remained mostly firm except for the higher volume of shorter shears, which eased, compared to last week.

Milk prices are volatile and difficult to predict so farmers should approach next season with caution. DairyNZ economists look at how the 2015-16 season could shape up.