Fonterra FY26 Results: $9.69 Milk Price, $3.4bn Profit
Fonterra has unveiled its annual results for the 2026 financial year, posting $27 billion in revenue and close to $20 billion returned to New Zealand farmer owners and unit holders.
A number of farmers were forced to dump milk, says Farm Source regional head Charles Fergusson.
The feedback from Fonterra suppliers was that the flooding brought a "really tough" situation for some but others were surprised their farms fared as well as they did, he said.
Worst affected were farms along the Ashburton River.
"We had some challenges earlier on farms on North Canterbury as well, so we had farmers evacuated out of their houses up on Sunday night.
"There were a number of farms out there who we asked to dispose of milk. One of the reasons is that we just weren't happy sending tankers out in those conditions with uncertainty over roads and also the state of the tanker tracks."
Fonterra also had to briefly evacuate the Clandeboye factory when a local creek burst its banks.
Fergusson said a lot of farmers would have wanted to push the season further but they dried off early to beat the weather.
However, Fonterra had a couple of hundred suppliers still milking as well as 60 to 100 true winter milkers.
"I think we our transport team do an incredible job as long as they've got a route to factory so we are working quite closely with the authorities regarding roading to see if we are able to get around."
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
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