April 30, 2026
After a strong start to the season, milk volumes continued to track ahead of recent seasons, with momentum carrying through summer and into autumn to deliver a very good production season for our farmer suppliers. As the season draws to a close, cows will end the 2025-26 season and go into winter in good condition. Many farmers have reduced their milking frequency in preparation for drying herds off later in May and into June.
It all starts down on the farm
Our General Manager Supplier Services, Richard Managh, tells us that it has been a “very good” production season on the farm with milk volumes tracking strongly across much of the supply base. As the season comes to an end, cows will end the 2025-26 season and go into winter in good condition. Many farmers have reduced milking frequency as volumes decrease in preparation for drying off their herds later in May and into June.
The season started well after a prolonged wet spell in early spring last year. Our collection days started earlier than usual – 21 July for milk and 1 August for colostrum. We recorded a record colostrum collection with farmers able to capitalise on a premium payment for this high-value product. Colostrum supply contracts are rolling in for next season, and it looks promising for further growth in supply this spring.
Our peak production day 18 October, when we collected 3.3 million litres of milk, was also earlier than usual, but a positive outcome was that collection volumes remained high in late November (3 million litres recorded on 20 November). Our factories coped well with the strong early season peak. Over winter, we will carry out maintenance on our facilities over the off-season in preparation for the 2026-27 season.
It has been positive to see milk prices recover after a drop in early December and looking likely to hold up for the remainder of the season. Westland pays a premium of 10 cents a kilogram milk solid above Fonterra’s price.
