Fonterra Whareroa sets cheese record, wins top award
Fonterra Whareroa wrapped up a successful season with a record-breaking cheese production volume and several gongs at the co-op's annual Best Site Cup awards.
The latest dairy auction has seen the dairy index up for the second time in a row, in what will be a welcome result for dairy farmers.
The GDT price index rose 10.9% at last night’s auction, to US$2,226/MT.
The biggest gains were seen for Butter Milk Powder, which rose a massive 30% to an average price of US$1,829/MT.
Whole Milk Powder also gained ground, climbing 12.1% to US$2,078/MT.
Anhydrous Milk Fat and Skim Milk Powder were both up 11.7%, with average prices of US$3,029/MT and US$1,698/MT respectively.
Most other products also saw an increase, with Butter rising 8.1% to US$2,746/MT, followed by Rennet Casein up 6.3% with an average price of US$5,779/MT and Cheddar was up 4.7% to US$2,913/MT.
Lactose was the only product to lose ground, falling 4.0%, to an average price of US$483/MT.
The auction saw a total of 35,865 MT sold.
Six industry organisations, including DairyNZ and the Dairy Companies Association (DCANZ) have signed an agreement with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to prepare the country for a potential foot and mouth outbreak.
The 2026 Red Dairy Cow conference will be hosted by New Zealand in March.
While global dairy commodity prices continue to climb in most key exporting countries, the second half of the year is expected to bring increased downside risks.
In a surprise move, Federated Farmers meat and wool group has dumped its chair Toby Williams.
Former MP and Southland farmer Eric Roy has received the Outstanding Contribution to New Zealand’s Primary Industries Award.
OPINION: Good times are coming back for the primary industries. From sentiment expressed at Fieldays to the latest rural confidence survey results, all indicate farmer confidence at a near-record high.