Milk peak turns into plateau

Fonterra is experiencing a “flat peak” to the seasonal milk flow and has coped well with the processing demand, without plant breakdowns, waste discharges or emergency storages.
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“Milk collection has risen and stayed up, moving up and down 1% each day, to the extent that I really can’t say if the peak has passed yet,” global operations managing director Rob Spurway said.

Weather had a big influence on daily milk production and the pattern on South Island farms remained about two weeks behind North Island ones.

Therefore, Fonterra continued to use the option of moving water-reduced milk from the north to the south.

Spurway said the peak daily collection was very close to 90 million litres, as his team had predicted and planned for.

“The anticipated gradual decline during November is not significant yet, although we know it will come.

“We are managing well, balancing volumes against capacity and so it is pleasing to report that the planning and investment we put into projects leading up to peak have delivered beyond our expectations.

“All plants have also performed beyond our expectations so I would like to acknowledge the huge team effort by all staff members.”

Spurway said more than 500 milk tankers and 1500 tanker operators were working to maximum capacity during the six to eight weeks surrounding the peak.

Last week Fonterra announced expansion intentions for the newly acquired plant at Studholme, 40km south of Timaru in South Canterbury.

It has started the consultation process with a view to lodging consent applications to build two new high-efficiency milk powder driers.

They would provide about 9m litres a day of extra capacity in one of the fastest-growing dairying regions in the country.

The Studholme site, bought two years ago from New Zealand Dairies, collects less than 1m litres a day.

The previously Russian-owned plant went into receivership before Fonterra bought it.

The plant is alongside State Highway 1 and the main trunk railway and therefore offered potential savings in milk logistics, Spurway said.

He emphasised the plan was a five to 10-year timeframe, beginning with consultation and consent applications.

Continued strong growth in dairy farm development had been confirmed by surveying farmers, looking at sustainable milk productivity and irrigation availability.

Studholme had enough land for expansion with large format driers, which were the most economical.

Mitigating environmental impacts would be a high priority for the build, with plans including a range of wastewater treatment options with particular care given to the nearby Wainono lagoon.

Fonterra was also looking to minimise the use of coal and investigating options for energy efficient boilers capable of burning biomass.

Source: Agrihq

Mirá También

Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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