A slide in prices at the latest Fonterra GDT auction may be a wake-up call to dairy farmers that they are operating in a global market hard hit by inflation.
They may be operating in a higher-cost environment but consumers in their markets are suffering, too, from soaring costs.
The average price at the fortnightly sale dropped 5% to $US4166 a tonne, after falling 4.1% in the previous auction. That is the lowest price since early October last year and 18% below the record set in March.
Prices have fallen in eight of the past nine auctions.
