Soggy, cold spring hits country's milk production

By LIAM DANN

Fonterra will struggle to collect as much milk at the peak of the season as it did last year, chief operating officer Jay Waldvogel says.

"The reality is we may not hit the peak we did last year," Waldvogel said, blaming miserable spring weather which has some farmers describing the start to this dairy season as one of the worst.

But he said that while Fonterra was not getting as much milk as it wanted now, a trend towards higher production levels later in the season meant it was too early to assume that a golden run of record seasons was over.

The season was long, and trying to predict the total milk flow before December was rather hit and miss.

But not meeting targets for the peak production day - due in the next fortnight - still has financial implications for Fonterra.

Fonterra bases the level of investment it makes in processing facilities on the milk volumes it expects to collect on the busiest day of the year.

Because peak milk flow is linked to calving, it is usually in the last week of October.

Last year, Fonterra collected just over 70 million litres of milk on the peak day; this year, it had budgeted for about 72 million litres.

Waldvogel said, however, it was unlikely that target would be hit.

But an increase in South Island dairy farms meant more milk was flowing later in the season. Last year, March and April produced about 30 million kilograms of milk solids more than expected.

"There is plenty of water around, obviously, so if we get some sun on it then we'll see the season push out longer," Waldvogel said.

But so far it has not been a great year to be a dairy farmer.

"You're out there running short of feed and the pastures are soggy, and the cows are tromping it down and you're trying to get through calving and breeding."

Dairy Farmers of New Zealand chairman Kevin Wooding said conditions had been extremely tough in many parts of the country.

There had been icy blasts in the lower South Island, and conditions in the lower North Island had been wet, with some farms still recovering from February's floods.

In the Bay of Plenty, many farms were in recovery mode after July's floods.

"Some farmers are saying it's the worst spring they can remember," Wooding said, "although I'm not sure how good their memories are."