Thursday, 25 February 2016 08:25

$8 milk price will happen again

Written by Rural News Group

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We will see a $8/kgMS milk price again – but we will also see $4/kgMS again, says New Zealand special agricultural trade envoy Mike Petersen.

Market insight and intelligence will be very important in next months, he told an Agcarm conference in Auckland yesterday.

"We shouldn't be surprised by volatility – I have been talking about this for the last 10 years," Petersen said.

Just in time delivery by retailers is one influence. "Volatility is here to stay – we need to come to terms with it," he said.

New Zealand dairy is 30% of all cross border trade, and that is the first to be hit by volatility.

We need to be more resilient, Petersen said, and farmers should set their business up to be more resilient in the face of volatility. Nevertheless he said, the future is extremely bright.

Earlier Jacqueline Rowarth told the conference Beef and Lamb analysis showed we did not market – an example, Wales spend $57 per tonne of product – New Zealand, $11.

Failing to market food at premium quality is costing New Zealand producers dearly, she said.

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