A Waipā accountant is telling farmers to advocate for a “material” improvement in milk prices from Fonterra.
Chartered Accountant Jarrod Godfrey, Associate Partner at Findex Waikato, says Fonterra’s opening milk price forecast for the 2025 season, in real terms, is not materially different to what was paid to farmers 20 years ago.
Jarrod Godfrey
The forecast started at $8 a kilo of milk solids and left the 2024 season forecast unchanged at $7.80.
“Most dairy farmers will be putting together their budget for 2025, and it probably doesn’t show much joy for the next 12 months, even with an $8 milk price,” Godfrey said.
“In real terms, milk prices have not changed much over the past 20 years, and combined with farm expense inflation and recent high interest rates, budgets will be looking fairly tight for the next 12 months.”
“Real” milk prices have not changed much I two decades, Jarrod Godfrey says.
He said the break-even point for an average 124ha Waipa dairy farm, peak milking 370 will be $8.20.
He encouraged farmers to put together a budget for the upcoming season, so plans could be made to navigate the tighter cash flow periods.
