Farmers Eye Affco’s Dairy Plans

FEDERATED FARMERS president Charlie Pedersen says dairy farmers will be watching to see how meat company Affco performs as a dairy processor.

“You wouldn’t say that Affco has been widely successful as a meat company so it’ll be interesting to see how they do as a milk company,” he said.

Meat companies in New Zealand were struggling to make money and struggling to deliver sustainable payments back to meat farmers, Mr Pedersen, a Himatangi dairy farmer, and meat and wool farmer, said.

“It will also be test of whether dairy farmers really believe in the co-operative.

“If they prove in numbers that they don’t, then that may change the way Fonterra operates in the future as well.” Affco has announced it is setting up its own nationwide dairy company, buying milk from farmers, initially processing it into milk powder and selling it overseas.

Affco chairman Sam Lewis said the Dairy Trust was expected to list on the New Zealand Exchange next year.

He said the trust would have dairy processing plants alongside Affco’s meat plants in Wanganui, Northland and Waikato and one in Southland.

He said he expected the dairy plants to be operating next year.

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