Despite the drop in dairy payout Wanganui's SealesWinslow animal feed plant is selling about 50 per cent more feed than last year, chief operating officer Chris Brown says.
The plant in Kelvin St makes animal feed, mainly for dairy cattle in the lower North Island. Dairy farmers nationwide have been cutting back on that since the dairy payout dropped from a historic high of $8.40 per kilo of milk solids in the 2013-14 season, to a predicted $3.70 to $3.90 a kilo in the coming season.
But farmers are still buying feed for their calves, Mr Brown said. They know that calves born now will be milk cows in two years.
"It's almost a universal decision across the farming landscape. The payout could be back up to $8 -- let's not compromise the young stock coming back into the herd."
Sales of calf feed are 60 per cent up on the previous year, and overall sales volumes are likely to increase to their annual high in late September and early October, when cows that have calved and their calves are getting supplementary feed.