Takeovers, public listings and sales are all afoot with companies trying to capitalise on tight supplies of milk, cheese and butter coupled with strong global demand.

Both Dairy Farmers and Fonterra are considering listing on the stock exchange while it is rumoured Philippino company San Miguel may sell part of National Foods.

Analyst Steve Spencer says there are mixed implications for farmers.

"There are performance issues, once a company's listed then that automatically puts significant pressure on the performance of the company to maintain the value for shareholders and so there's a fairly strong discipline," he said.

Source: ABC Online