By PHILIPPA STEVENSON
The relationship between Fonterra and farmer shareholders in the Waikato remains bad, but the milk collection problems that led to the breakdown are improving.
Fonterra Shareholders Council chairman Tony O'Boyle said yesterday that about 75 disaffected farmers met company representatives this week over the problems, which included missed milk
pick-ups and poor daily report dockets.
The meetings in Hamilton and Te Awamutu were constructive and the collection mistakes were easing, but the episode had left a bad taste in the mouths of many Waikato farmers, O'Boyle said.
Central Waikato farmers appeared to have been affected the most, though O'Boyle's Rotorua farm also had the collection problems that prompted him to publicly criticise the company last week.
Fonterra said it was addressing the problems, which inevitably occurred at the beginning of a new milking season.
But a year-round town milk supplier said problems with daily pick-up dockets had been occurring for three months.
He had been penalised over milk quality even though he had been given little information about the problem.
The South Auckland supplier said: "They feel they can made deductions from my account without supplying correct information."
