The country's two smallest dairy co-operatives provided the highest and lowest milk price payout last season.
Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company took the honours with a payout for 2008-09 of $5.38 a kg of milk solids, while Westland Milk Products was hit hard by the sudden fall in market returns with a payout of just $4.50 a kg of milk solids (kg/ms).
Fonterra paid $5.20 kg/ms.
Unlike Fonterra, which retained 1c a kg/ms, Tatua chairman Steve Allen said the company would not retain any earnings, instead returning all its $66.1 million in earnings before payout and tax to its 112 Waikato shareholders.
Mr Allen said it had been a difficult year for Tatua, which the previous season paid shareholders $8 kg/ms.
Group revenue was $205 million and production was back to normal levels of 12.3 million kg/ms after drought decimated production the previous year.
West Coast Federated Farmers dairy section chairman Richard Reynolds said the low payout was not unexpected, as Westland had forecast $4.50 kg/ms, which included a top-up from previously retained earnings.
"That's it. There is no more wash-up coming, which was as expected."
Shareholders received $7.92 kg/ms for the 2007-08 year after 30c kg/ms was retained.
Last season, Westland twice reduced the size of its advance payout - what it paid farmers for milk each month before an end-of-season balance-up - because of falling market prices.
Mr Reynolds said Westland tended to have shorter selling contract periods than Fonterra and it also did not make cheese, the price of which stayed up, while prices for products Westland was strong in - powder, butter and casein - fell sharply.
"When it goes bad [for Westland], it falls quite quickly. When it rises, it rises quite quickly."
While the 2008-09 season was one to forget, Mr Reynolds said a forecast range of $4.70 to $5.10 kg/ms for next season was welcomed and could mean farmers made a small profit.
