Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen once remarked on the fact that 'there are no traffic jams on the extra mile'.
As the dairy industry grows in profitability and confidence, producers in the north need direction from the whole supply chain as to where this industry heads.
This includes potential solutions to the issues that are facing all agricultural commodities such as labour but, more challengingly, the supply of Queensland produced milk consumed in the Sunshine State.
Annually, citizens north of the Tweed consume 570 million litres of drinking milk, but just 290 million litres is supplied by their fellow Queenslanders. Demand consistently outstrips local supply by a factor of 50 per cent. Some months, when constrained by seasonal supply, this rises to almost 60pc.
The rest of our milk supply is 'imported' from Australia's largest dairying state, Victoria. To put in perspective the size of Victoria's supply, just in the western districts alone (west of Geelong to the SA border), farmers produce almost two billion litres, eight times that of Queeensland's.
With a farmgate price differentiation of around 12 cents in Queensland's favour, what is the balance required between locally produced milk and that coming in from the south to ensure a profitable sector for farmers and processors alike?
Over the last 18 months there have been four new farms come into production across Queensland. Many existing farms have significantly increased their production off the back of the highest prices for milk boosted by the collapse of Coles' $1 milk campaign. Our local industry is growing, but clearly not enough to achieve self-sufficiency.
However, believing that Victorian milk will always be there to flood Queensland shelves ignores fluctuations of the global dairy trade. If, like last year export prices are high, southern produced milk will move to those market opportunities with plenty of competitors scrambling for it.
From a food security point of view, this scenario leaves Queensland's 5.4 million residents stranded and exposed.
The Northern Dairy Industry Strategic Plan seeks to bring most players of the supply chain together - farmers and processors in the same room - to create a road map unique to the challenges here in the north.
This strategic plan is our 'extra mile', our opportunity to unite and collectively put our efforts into a sustainable industry for all.
- Damien Tessmann, dairy agribusiness manager
