"He was up on the road when I arrived. He was fine and that was our main concern," Mr Titley said.
Most of the milk was pumped from the tanks and taken away to prevent further spillage in the paddock and lighten the load before a crane provided a big lift.
A full investigation, which was standard procedure for the company, would be launched into the crash, Mr Titley said.
Police Constable Greg Chisnall said the driver had been wearing a seatbelt.
"That was a big plus, otherwise it might have been worse than it was," Mr Chisnall said.
Dairy farmer Gerard Lensen said he got a call about 6am from Fonterra telling him a tanker had gone through his fence. Mr Lensen was in the paddock hours later as the crane was used to remove the truck and trailer.
Traffic was stopped while the tanker unit was righted then lifted out over power lines on to a flat-deck truck. The trailer was also moved the same way and the road was reopened just after 10am.
Northland Regional Council staff were at the scene to monitor the recovery and any milk or diesel spills. Some milk flowed into a small drain in the paddock but no diesel was spilled.
As the milk tanker was being retrieved from the paddock, police were at a logging truck crash on State Highway 12 near Parore, 5km northwest of Dargaville.
Senior Constable John van Pomeron, of the commercial-vehicle investigation unit, said the fully laden logging truck was travelling south when it went out of control going downhill through an S-bend about 5.40am.
The trailer rolled and ended up on its side, spilling the logs. The truck unit remained upright. The trucking company sent in two trucks with cranes, removed the logs and righted the trailer. Speed may have been a factor but police were continuing to investigate.
