December 16, 2025
This season we have welcomed a strong run up to peak production. Milk prices have remained high, despite coming off record prices recently, and Westland is continuing its commitment to pay a 10-cent premium per kilogram of milk solids above Fonterra's price.
We hope our farmers continue to have a great season and make the most of the high base price for their milk as well as the premiums we pay, including the 85 percent advance rate.
Early milk collections and record peaks
Our milk collection season started earlier than usual – 21 July for milk and 1 August for colostrum – with more farmer suppliers taking advantage of the premium paid for highly sought after colostrum.
It was an exceptional start to the season leading up to our peak production day across our businesses with 4.3 million litres of milk collected on October 18. This peak is slightly earlier than usual. Cows peaking well is a traditional positive marker as it means they will produce more over the season.
Excellent production on the 371 farms supplying Westland Milk Products and 70 supplying Oceania Dairy Limited (441) occurred despite the prolonged wet period in much of the South Island’s dairying regions from late October through to the second half of November. A spell of more favourable weather on our suppliers’ farms meant the situation turned around quickly and a month after the daily peak we were still collecting nearly 3 million litres of milk a day as recorded on November 20.
A season highlight is our record colostrum collection with 180 farms supplying the high-value product resulting in an increase in supply of more than 40 percent on the previous year. The average total colostrum payment to each farm this season more than doubled compared to last year.
Supporting our farmers and high volumes
We’re providing plenty of support to our farmers during the peak of the season with a focus on farm engagement and sustainability programmes. We fit these into our farmers' schedules, and our supplier services team is available to help our farmer suppliers with audits and other routine events.
Our factories are working hard to support the high volumes of milk being processed, ahead of predictions. But peak volumes are good news for farmers seeking to maximise their profitability. Staff were prepared for record throughput for the season and have managed the season peaking earlier than the traditional late October date.
Strategic investments
From a processing perspective, we are seeing excellent progress. Our lactoferrin plant at Hokitika is producing both spray-dried and freeze-dried BioactiveMAX™ Lactoferrin, while Westgold butter, a premium product, is now stocked in more than 3000 retail outlets in the United States including Walmart.
We have increased the throughput of one of our membrane filtration plants to create more high value milk protein concentrate, while at Oceania Dairy Limited’s Glenavy plant we have increased the skimming capability relating to Westpro UHT which is great for whipping cream and retail butter.
The long-term market outlook remains strong with positive global demand for butter, protein concentrates and colostrum. To date, we are producing record amounts of finished product and extending our shipping volumes.
