Friesland Campina, the Dutch dairy co-op, has left its guaranteed base milk price unchanged for September at 36.1c/litre. Friesland’s milk price has remained unchanged since July, with the dairy giant citing steady milk prices paid by rival dairy processors across Europe (dairy companies which Friesland benchmarks its milk price against) as its reasoning for holding September milk prices.

Meanwhile, activity continues to pick up across European dairy markets and spot prices for most dairy commodities have risen this week. The spot price of butter reported to the Dutch dairy board has risen close to €3,400/t, while skimmed milk powder (SMP) prices have risen to €2,110/t. Whole milk powder (WMP) prices are also up slightly to €2,780/t, while cheddar prices are steady at €2,850/t.

Down in New Zealand, the early signs are that milk production for the 2019/20 milking season, which runs from June 2019 to May 2020 in the southern hemisphere, is off to a strong start. In July, New Zealand milk collections stood at 265m litres, which is 5% ahead of the same month last year.

This brings cumulative milk collections in New Zealand for the first two months of the new milking season to 483m litres, which is almost 9% ahead of last year.

Spring weather conditions in New Zealand are said to be ideal, as kiwi farmers enter the busy spring-calving period.

However, it’s important to note the months of June and July are the equivalent of January and February here in Ireland. New Zealand will not hit peak milk production until October.