Image: FonterraLooking to build on its performance and growing demand for organic dairy products, Fonterra is expanding its organic milk program into New Zealand’s South Island. This follows continued recruitment in the North Island, where more than 100 farms are part of the Fonterra Organic Program. “For example, since the Organic Milk Price was first established in 2016/17, it has delivered an average premium of around $2 per kilogram of milk solids (kgMS) above the Farmgate Milk Price. There’s also the potential for lower input costs typical in New Zealand’s grass-fed organic systems.”Fonterra’s organic business has operated since 2002, with Hautapu, Morrinsville and Waitoa UHT sites producing most of the co-op’s organic dairy products. The Organic Milk Price was introduced in 2016/17 to provide suppliers with a market-based return for organic milk solids.