Fonterra’s season opener $7

dairy chairman Chris Lewis.

Lewis said farmers had received compensation for lost earnings until a farm was restocked, but that could take many months and bills still had to be paid.

Other farmers would be in a position to do more environment work, continue to catch up on deferred maintenance from previous low payouts, and look at possible pay increases for staff.

Fonterra also announced its third-quarter financial results, which it described as ‘‘not the results it had planned’’.

Although higher prices lifted its revenue to $14.8 billion for the first nine months of 2017-18, up 7 per cent on the same period last year, its total milk volumes had fallen 5 per cent to 16 billion liquid milk equivalents.

This resulted in its gross margins declining to 16 per cent from 18 per cent for the first nine months of the year, compared with the same period last year.

While it will not announce its forecast earnings per share for the 2018-19 season until July, Fonterra has revised its forecast normalised earnings per share guidance range for the 2017-18 season down to 25-30c per share and its forecast dividend range for the full year down to 15-20 cents per share.

Chairman John Wilson said the revised earnings forecast for 2017-18 was disappointing for shareholders and unitholders.

‘‘However, the total forecast cash payout for farmers increases to $6.90-$6.95/kg which is the third-highest payout this decade.’’

Chief executive Theo Spierings said the co-operative had expected a more successful second half of the year but this had not happened because of a rapid rise in input costs late in the season into its value-add business.