MILK PRODUCTION TURNS SOUR
MURRAY Goulburn Co-operative has cut its expected milk intake and warned the high dollar is putting pressure on its ability to meet the top end of its price forecast for farmers.
Shares in the nation’s biggest milk processor fell yesterday after it said it now expected to collect 2.3 billion litres of milk this financial year – 200 million litres less than originally planned.
Murray Goulburn has been leaking suppliers since it shocked the dairy industry by slashing its promised milk price and attempting to claw back payments from farmers in April last year.
The dairy processor’s latest milk intake forecast is more than one-third below what it collected in the 2016 financial year.
Australia’s milk production is expected to fall to its lowest level in more than 20 years this year as the impacts of farmers leaving the land or reducing herd sizes amid a global milk glut and poor weather play out.