Australian dairy opening prices 2025: Rolling coverage of Bega, Fonterra, Saputo, Lactalis prices

Milk processors have revealed their opening milk prices for next season. Use our interactive graphic to search prices, suppliers and locations.

Australian Consolidated Milk has provided the first step up of the new season, less than 48 hours after confirming its opening price.

In a letter to suppliers on Wednesday, the processor lifted its price to $9 per kilo milk solids, a 15c increase on the $8.85 per kilo milk solids it announced on Monday.

ACM chief executive David Limbrick said the forecasted weighted average milk price excluded any multi year sign on payments.

“ACM has a commitment to ensure a market competitive milk price for our suppliers, this opening weighted average milk price revision is reflective of that position,” he told suppliers.

“We will continue to formally review our price on a quarterly basis throughout the season.”

Fonterra was the first processor to announce its opening price, with an average of $8.60 per kilo milk solids confirmed seven days out from the mandatory dairy code deadline.

TUESDAY

Penny-pinching consumers have been blamed by multiple processor chiefs for below $9 per kilo milk solid offerings on dairy deadline day.

Executives from Saputo, Bulla and Fonterra have all identified soft domestic sales in their statements to the industry, outlining why they have provided farmgate offerings as low as $8.40 per kilo milk solids.

Bulla Dairy Foods chief Allan Hood said both domestic retail and external economic conditions shaped the processor’s $8.40 to $9.20 per kilo price range.

“As we head into this new season, we acknowledge that the local dairy industry faces significant challenges with our farmers across Victoria dealing with the impact of severe drought and rising costs,” Mr Hood said.

“Like many businesses, Bulla continues to navigate a difficult and unpredictable domestic market with changing consumer behaviour, cost of living pressures and escalating input costs.

“As we shared with our farmers recently, our planning process for each season takes into account many factors including our own financial performance and that of the external market. “Despite the challenges, we remain optimistic for the season ahead.”

Bulla chief executive Allan Hood

Meanwhile, Burra Foods offered a price range of $8.60 to $9.10 per kilo milk solids.

Management at Burra said te price range reflected what most farmers could “realistically expect to receive—rather than a weighted average that may not reflect the individual circumstances of many farms.”

Burra chief executive Stewart Carson said the 2025 was an increase over last year’s opening offer by the processor.

“(The price is) reflective of the improved market conditions across the season,” Mr Carson said. “However, the influence of tariffs and global instability cannot be ignored. They pose a threat to the sustainability of current market pricing and milk returns.”

EARLIER TODAY:

Saputo has offered an opening price range of $8.80 to $8.95 per kilo milk solids across southeastern Australia.

Meanwhile, Australian Consolidated Milk announced an opening weighted average milk price of $8.85 per kilo milk solids, excluding any multi-year sign-on payments.

In a letter to suppliers, Saputo milk supply director Kate Ryan said prices were also available for exclusive supply.

“The opening price reflects recent stable commodity prices, offset by sustained competitive challenges facing the local trade environment,” she said.

In domestic markets, consumers remain cost sensitive and value focused.”

Last year, one of Saputo’s leading Canada-based executives said processor wanted to keep farmgate prices low for as long as possible, outraging Australian farmers.

Toronto-based chief financial officer Maxime Therrien said the low farmgate pricing in 2025-25 had aided the processor’s profitability.

“Certainly, the new milk season starting in July with the price of milk that we are paying for the last few weeks will be a benefit for us as we move forward,” Mr Therrien said last year. “We intend, or we believe that with this price of milk, it kind-of restores our margin in Australia.

“So we’re hopeful that this milk price will stick for as long as we can. And with that, we would be back to historical level of profitability out of Australia.”

MONDAY MORNING:

Lactalis has confirmed an average opening price of $9 per kilo milk solids in southwest Victoria and Gippsland.

The French-owned processor has also confirmed an average of $9.20 per kilo milk solids for northern Victoria and the Riverina.

In April, Lactalis — the world’s largest dairy processor — lodged an application with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, seeking informal merger clearance before making a formal bid for Fonterra’s assets.

In July 2023, the Federal Court fined Lactalis Australia $950,000 in penalties for breaching the Dairy Code of Conduct, by publishing and entering into agreements that allowed it to unilaterally terminate an agreement in circumstances that didn’t involve a material breach by farmers.

Processor start-up Goulburn Valley Creamery has announced an opening price of up to $9.00 per kilogram milk solids for exclusive 2025-26 supply.

Management says it is on a recruitment drive to source an extra 140 million litres of milk to meet customer demand for the coming year.

The company recently started an additional $20 million investment to improve processing capacity, storage and product range at its Kyabram facility.

Goulburn Valley Creamery chief executive Mancel Hickey described the processor’s opening price as competitive.

“We are really looking to do things a bit differently to the rest of the industry, and that’s reflected in how we work and engage with our suppliers,” he said.

Established in 2020, GVC makes a range of dairy products for export, with a focus on southeast Asia.

GVC chief Mancel Hickey Picture: Zoe Phillips

GVC also advised it is expanding the storage capacity, throughput and product processing capability of its Kyabram site, with a $20 million investment. The works program started in March and will run through to the end of 2025.

Mr Hickey says the increased capacity is designed to handle the additional volumes being sought from farmers for processing into export product for end use customers.

MAY 29:

Fonterra is offering its New Zealand suppliers an opening price of $NZ10 ($A9.28) per kilo milk solids next season, outraging Australian farmers who say the processor is deflating the Australian farmgate.

Management at the Auckland-based processor confirmed the $NZ10 offering on Thursday, four days after it provided a southern Australian average of $A8.60 per kilo milk solids.

Fonterra is the only Australian processor to provide an opening price so far, with the mandatory dairy code of conduct deadline set for 2pm on June 2.

eastAUSmilk president Joe Bradley said the trans-Tasman pricing disparity was outrageous and accused Fonterra of artificially deflating Australian farmgate competition.

“Farmers are white-hot with anger when it comes to the processors, and Fonterra specifically,” the Brisbane region farmer said.

“It’s bloody outrageous. First, you have Fonterra putting out a price in Australia that is nowhere near reflective of input costs or market fundamentals at $8.60. Then you have them providing a price in New Zealand that’s about 70 cents higher (per kilo milk solids) than what they’re offering in Australia.”

President of eastAUSmilk, Joe Bradley.

Mr Bradley said Fonterra’s actions this week necessitated reforms to the mandatory dairy code of conduct, implemented in July 2020 by the Morrison Government.

“The processors have found a way of getting around the mandatory code and it’s undercutting farmers as a result. If the case for reform wasn’t clear before this week, it’s as clear as day now,” he said.

In a statement aimed at a New Zealand audience, Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell confirmed the NZ average price for the current season would also clock in at $NZ10 per kilo milk solids.

He said the $NZ10 figure equated to an approximate $NZ15 billion cash injection into the New Zealand economy.

“Looking at the season ahead, we expect this demand to continue for now, but we acknowledge the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and the potential for a wider series of outcomes across the season,” Mr Hurrell said.

MAY 28:

Processors could still open at $9 per kilo milk solids or higher, Rabobank analyst Michael Harvey says, with only one processor outlining its opening price so far.

Fonterra released an average $8.60 per kilo milk solids on Monday, underwhelming farmers who claim the figure is a ‘low ball strategy’ to soften competition ahead of the June 2 pricing deadline.

Releasing Rabobank’s dairy outlook report on Wednesday, Mr Harvey said commodity prices and export returns for bulky dairy ingredients had rallied ahead of the new season.

He told The Weekly Times that domestic conditions were also improving, despite deflationary pressure on the dairy refrigerator cabinet.

“There’s still water to flow under the bridge before June 2, so $9 (per kilo milk solids) is still a live option,” Mr Harvey said.

“It may be a bullish prediction, but as we say in the report, the market dynamics for Australian dairy appear reasonably sound.

“As of this month, the cheese and whey value stream is 23 per cent higher than it was in June 2024 when the current season’s prices were being set, and the skim milk powder/butter value stream is up six per cent over the same period of time.”

Rabobank dairy analyst Michael Harvey

Ahead of the 2023-24 season, processors engaged in a months-long bidding war for milk supply, pushing the price past $9 per kilo milk solids to break through the $10 barrier in some markets. The opposite was the case ahead of 2024-25 deadline day, with most processors waiting until the mandated deadline to report their opening prices.

“We may see some movement later in the week. There are positives in May 2025 that weren’t there in May 2024 — we have a weaker Australian dollar and stronger international dairy demand,” Mr Harvey said.

MAY 26:

Farm lobby leaders have slammed Fonterra’s opening bid for milk, claiming their $8.60 per kilogram milk solids offer is part of a financial strategy.

One week out from deadline day for processors to reveal their opening milk prices for next season, Fonterra Oceania managing director David Breckenridge confirmed the figure for 2025-26, lower than the mid $9 per kilo milk solids range that farm lobby leaders were calling for.

“Our opening price is higher than the current season, reflecting improved global market conditions, although dampened by a continued soft domestic outlook,” Mr Breckenridge said.

“Geopolitical tensions and potential trade disruptions, along with currency volatility continue to create uncertainty for the longer-term outlook.”

United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Bernie Free said the $8.60 per kilo figure “was not a serious price” and part of Fonterra’s strategy at providing a low-ball figure.

“This is all part of a game by Fonterra and the other processors will join in,” he said.

“At a time when farmers are being hit with drought, the best you could describe $8.60 is a bloody joke.

“You’d have to say this is all part of a game where they offer $8.60, hope the other processors offer a low figure too, and they weigh down the price. It’s a disgrace.”