Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Fonterra forecast extremely troubling for Government trying to go forward...


Well it couldn't have got worse for the Government, one day out from Bill English's carefully constructed first budget. Fonterra has announced a forecast payout for 2009/10 of $4.55, down from $5.10 per kg for this season.

This is serious, regardless of whether the final pay-out is lifted somewhat. Farmgirl understands that there are already many Canterbury dairy farmers on their knees and has been told that anything $5.00 or under could spell mortgagee sales for many that have expanded in previous seasons.

Retailers in agricultural servicing towns like Ashburton have been reporting a drop off in sales across the board, and this will have many retailers reeling. The affects will be large and long term.

The consumer/producer divide Farmgirl has been blogging on over the past few months is about to be narrowed considerably as the general public begins to understand that dairy farmer fortunes are their own fortunes as well.

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