This means that farmers will not have to share up immediately and can wait until June 2013, where they can share up based on the new rolling three-season average.
“For most farmers, the new Share Standard should result in a lower required minimum shareholding from that time,” Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden said.
“This is a commonsense solution that will simplify farmers’ business decisions between now and June 2013. It will ease the transition into the introduction of the three-season rolling average from that time.”
Van der Heyden said Fonterra’s board decided to suspend the differential because it did not think it was logical to encourage farmers to acquire additional shares in that six-month period.
The decision does not apply to the contract milk price, for milk supplied by farmers who are not Fonterra shareholders, or former NZDL suppliers.
