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.
However, there were mixed results for the individual products on offer.
Whole milk powder prices continued to edge lower, while butter prices were unchanged following their strong run over recent weeks.
Westpac analyst Anne Boniface says with just one more GDT auction before the 2018/19 season draws to a close at the end of May, the bank has “baked in the upside risk that we have been noting in recent weeks to our milk price forecast”.
It’s now forecasting a $6.50/kgMS milk price for the 2018/19 season (previously $6.40) which would be toward the upper end of Fonterra’s $6.30-6.60 forecast range.
Key Results
AMF index up 1.4%, average price US$6,217/MT
Butter index unchanged, average price US$5,486/MT
BMP index down 10.3%, average price US$3,242/MT
Ched index down 2.4%, average price US$4,217/MT
LAC index down 2.7%, average price US$887/MT
RenCas index up 3.1%, average price US$6,610/MT
SMP index up 2.8%, average price US$2,521/MT
SWP index not available, average price not available
WMP index down 0.5%, average price US$3,249/MT
