Topic

southland farming

Milk powder, the product that sets the direction of New Zealand's farmgate milk price. Whole milk powder rose 5.9 per cent at this week's Global Dairy Trade auction. File photo. Photo: ProjectManhattan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Whole milk powder jumps 5.9 per cent as GDT index posts biggest rise since February

Whole milk powder averaged US$3971 a tonne at the overnight Global Dairy Trade auction, its largest gain of 2026, as the overall index rose 3 per cent and Chinese buyers took 59 per cent of the product on offer.

4 Nov 2026

Black and white dairy cows on a New Zealand farm. Photo: GPS 56 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Rural

Southland cows average 481kg of milksolids as NZ dairy output tops 2 billion kg for first time

New dairy statistics show Southland's 982 herds and 609,632 cows produced 14.5 per cent of the country's milksolids in 2025-26, with per-cow output well ahead of the national average of 428kg.

2 Nov 2026