Fonterra has revised its forecast price for this season -- reducing the midpoint by 20 cents, to eight-dollars-30 per KG of milk solids.
The Country's Jamie McKay says it's still an historically high pay-out.
But he says with rising costs and interest rates, many farmers will struggle to break even -- and may have to make tough spending decisions.
He says there's been "absolute escalation" in on-farm inflation, with the price of food, fuel and farm labour rising even faster than consumer prices.