West Coast farmers want answers

Westland Milk Products' suppliers want answers. In a letter dated Dec 19 the Hokitika-based co-operative slashed its payout forecast to $4.10-$4.50/kg and announced it would claw-back 90c/kg of $4.95c/kg advance payments in just two months. Those deductions from the new advance payment of $4.05/kg have left January milk cheques very light and February's will be no better, says the region's Federated Farmers Dairy chairwoman, Katie Milne. "˜It barely covers the wages for the people you've got on deck.' It's wiped $200 million out of the West Coast this season reports Rural News. Westland has announced a series of six supplier meetings scheduled for Feb 2, 3 and 5. However, Milne says the limited explanation and failure to front up promptly has left people wondering how well things are being run. John Clayton, Ikamatua questions what has happened to last season's 30c/kg MS retention and 16c/kg from the year before. "˜They are taking the drastic step of taking money back off farmers. It's unheard of, and some explanation is needed. We also need an explanation why we've been running without a chief executive for six months, and possibly another three still. It's been a pretty vital time not to have had a CEO on the job. For any board one of the most important jobs is having the right chief executive in place.'