A good start to 2021 for Fonterra

Photo / File

Content brought to you by Fonterra.

Fonterra Managing Director for Co-operative Affairs Mike Cronin is back from his Christmas break, and looking forward to a positive year for the dairy industry.

"It's actually a little hard to believe it is 2021, but it's good to be back," Cronin told The Country Sport Breakfast's Brian Kelly.

Cronin admitted he was lucky to have a break.

"Of course the dairy industry doesn't stop - cows have to be milked - that milk's got to be picked up, processed and sold."

"So farmers and their teams and our people have been working through that festive season break - I hope they get a bit of time to catch up."

The dairy season started back in May 2020, so Fonterra farmers were more than half way through it now, Cronin said.

Listen below:

"Farmers are still working hard. Tankers are out there, manufacturing sites are turning out the products and we're getting them out to our markets in the world."

The weather had been unpredictable around New Zealand, with farmers having to contend with heat, rain and even snow, but overall conditions were similar to last year, Cronin said.

Also in today's interview: Cronin talked about a report released this week by DairyNZ and AgResearch, which showed New Zealand dairy farmers had the world's lowest carbon footprint – at nearly half the emissions of other international producers.