Waikato dairy farmers are not the only ones reeling from the dairy price drop. Dairy support and maize growers are worried too.
The recent publicity about the projected milk price for the current season has focused largely on dairy farmers but readers should be aware that this drop also has a direct effect on dairy support providers. Supplement feed for dairy herds, such as hay, grass silage, maize silage and maize grain, is a big part of the dairy industry and comes from the arable industry.
Dairy farmers have been told by bank managers, farm advisers and others to have a good, hard look at their expenses and to cut out any unnecessary spending. This is astute advice but, at this stage of the season, the cut should not come at the expense of the cow. Milking cows should be fed to capacity and, through high quality supplementary feed, should gain weight prior to mating.
We arable farmers, like dairy farmers, have been advised to look at the costs of our production and, where possible, to cut back on unnecessary expenses. This is not easy to do with maize as it is a crop that requires high inputs. If fertiliser and weed spray are cut back production will really suffer. And, after two years of drought, we can't afford to cut back, especially with contract prices for maize silage and maize grain easing to $410 to $420 a tonne for the coming season. Dairy farmers are not the only ones who will need a good season to compensate for the price drop.