Gympie dairy farmer and businessman, John Cochrane, believes that if every farmer received an extra 10 cents/litre for milk it would make their operations viable.
Speaking at Queensland Country Life’s Food Heroes function, Mr Cochrane said the average dairy farm produces one million litres of milk and a 10c/L increase would make the industry financially sustainable again.
“And for the average consumer who drinks 100 litres of milk per year, it would cost an additional $10 annually”, Mr Cochrane said.
Mr Cochrane said milk producers have the right to negotiate with the processor, and they should be given the right to negotiate with the end retailer.
“Everybody in business should be able to promote and market their product and value add, “ he said.
“Queensland farmers do have a quality fresh local product to value add to against the next best option of Victorian milk, and they deserve the right to allow customers to choose which product and at what price.
“Farmers don’t even have a marketing and promotion line in their balance sheets. Who else in the domestic market has a third party (the processors) negotiate their price?”
Mr Cochrane said that since deregulation of the dairy industry on July 1, 2000, Queensland had lost over 70 per cent of its dairy farmers.
“As a result, we have 180 million litres of milk being trucked from interstate to supply Queenslanders with milk,” he said.
What has been proven since the Murray Goulburn debacle, is that consumers want a fresh local product instead of milk transported 1,400 kms up the highway.
- John Cochrane
Coles was the first supermarket to introduce $1/litre milk in January 2011. It was soon followed by Woolworths and other retailers who were forced to introduce the loss-leading, in the on-going battle for the shopper’s dollar.
”As a result many dairy farmers are continuing to make the difficult decision to leave the industry. This is heartbreaking for them to sell their dairy cows as they are treated more like household pets as they have raised them from babies through to their productive years.”