Fonterra Milk Supply Tumbles on Worst N.Z. Drought in 30 Years

Milk supplies in New Zealand, the biggest dairy exporter, dropped for a second month in March as the country’s most widespread drought in at least three decades curbed production and boosted prices to a record, according to Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd.

Milk collection slumped 16.3 percent last month from a year earlier and declined 2.3 percent in February, Auckland-based Fonterra, the world’s largest dairy shipper, said in a statement today, without providing details. Collections were 2.8 percent ahead of a year earlier in the 10 months to March 31 at 1.3 million kilograms of milk solids, it said.