{"id":16699,"date":"2015-12-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-30T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/round-up-dairy-farmers-most-optimistic-in-nz-agricultural-sector-for-2016\/"},"modified":"2015-12-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-30T11:00:00","slug":"round-up-dairy-farmers-most-optimistic-in-nz-agricultural-sector-for-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/round-up-dairy-farmers-most-optimistic-in-nz-agricultural-sector-for-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Round-up: Dairy farmers most optimistic in NZ agricultural sector for 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>

Dairy prices have tumbled this year amid rising supplies, lacklustre Chinese demand and an import ban imposed by Russia. New Zealand is the world\u2019s largest exporter of dairy products, accounting for about a third of international dairy trade. Fonterra Co-operative Group, the country\u2019s dominant dairy processor, has offered its farmer suppliers interest-free loans to tide them through the hard times and is betting on an improvement in prices in 2016 to support its forecast payout for the current season.<\/p>\n

\u201c2015 will be remembered as a year of low milk prices and adverse events such as droughts and floods that have impacted farmers\u2019 bottom lines and put New Zealand\u2019s biggest sector under enormous pressure,\u201d Federated Farmers president William Rolleston said. \u201cIt is encouraging to see relatively higher levels of optimism among dairy farmers after what they have faced in 2015, however we need to remember the degree optimism for improvement reflects the current market for dairy products verses sheep and beef \u2013 the latter having fared better than their dairy counterparts in the last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rolleston said El Nino weather conditions over summer were worsening a drought in the South Island and farmers in general appeared headed for \u201canother tough year\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dairy farmers are the most optimistic group in New Zealand\u2019s agricultural sector for the coming year, according to a Federated Farmers poll.\nSome 41% of dairy farmers are expecting improved market conditions in 2016, ahead of 19% of meat and fibre farmers, and 17% of arable farmers. Overall, 29% expect improved conditions, 19% expect conditions to get worse and 52% expect market conditions to remain the same, according to 1100 Federated Farmers members surveyed in the run up to Christmas.\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t