BNZ lifts milk price forecast to $10.25/kgMS for 2025-26
A stronger than expected outlook for dairy has prompted one bank to lift its 2025-26 season forecast milk price by 75c to $10.25/kgMS.
The US currency will determine how the milk payout plays out, says BNZ senior economist Doug Steel.
He told Rural News that, in some ways, the recent GDT price strength looks like catch up due to the recent declines in the US dollar.
A lower US dollar tends to lift product prices that are denominated in that currency.
“Of course, the flipside of a lower US dollar is a higher NZ dollar, while a higher NZ dollar – in itself – tends to put downward pressure on milk price, it very much needs to be seen in the context of product price movements in offshore markets.
“These things do not move in isolation. It is the balance that matters.”
Steel points out that it was no coincidence that the 2013-14 record $8.40 milk price was paid when the NZD/USD was above 0.80.
“That said, a higher NZD/USD will limit the upside to domestic milk prices, but likely more so for next season than the current one.”
Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Todd McClay is encouraging farmers, growers, and foresters not to take unnecessary risks, asking that they heed weather warnings today.
With nearly two million underutilised dairy calves born annually and the beef price outlook strong, New Zealand’s opportunity to build a scalable dairy-beef system is now.
Graduates of a newly-updated Agri-Women’s Development Trust (AWDT) course are taking more value than ever from the programme, with some even walking away calling themselves the “farm CFO”.
Meet the Need, a farmer-led charity, says food insecurity in New Zealand is dire, with one in four children now living in a household experiencing food insecurity, according to Ministry of Health data.
Applications have now opened for the 2026 Meat Industry Association scholarships.
Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through a new initiative designed to make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking easier.
OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…