The dairy downturn has driven farmer-owned co-operative, Livestock Improvement Corp (LIC), into the red.
The NZX-listed company, which is the domestic dairy industry's main bull semen provider, has announced a $4 million loss for the year to May compared with a profit of $13.7m a year earlier.
"This decrease reflects the prolonged New Zealand dairy industry downturn, and the continued investment by LIC on research and development and core technology for the medium to long term future of our industry," the company said in a statement.
LIC said it had started discussions with shareholders about future potential capital structure changes aimed at allowing the business to grow.
This included discussions as to the future capital funding requirements of a separate agritech business.