Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred: impacts on the dairy industry
Ex-TC Alfred sat off the coast, undecided of when and where it was going to land in Southeast Queensland. Dairy farms from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland right through to the Mid North Coast, New South Wales were affected by strong winds and rainfall. In the lead up to the event, warnings and alerts were issued across the two states allowing farmers to prepare for the wind and rainfall events that would follow.
Preparedness can only support recovery and reduce damages to a degree when regions received over 800mm of rain across the 2-3 days causing localised and riverine flooding. The amount of water received during a short period of time meant severe infrastructural damages, erosion and floodwaters across paddocks and crops. The adverse weather affected and continues to affect animal health with increased cases of mastitis, lameness and 3-day sickness.
Milk dumping occurred in many regions, whether it be from accessibility issues to farm or the prioritisation of staff safety from transport companies and processing factories. Most factories prioritised daily collection in the lead up to the predicted impact of Alfred which worked favourably, minimising the total amount of milk dumped.
Category B disaster assistance has been made available in both Queensland and New South Wales which includes low interest loans and transport subsidies. We are encouraging farmers to continue to report on-farm damages whether it be minor or major as floodwaters continue to subside and you can access more parts of the farm and perform damage assessments. Damage reporting is key in informing state governments on the impact to industry and what level of assistance be made available.
Please contact the team at eastAUSmilk if you have any questions or need assistance in filling out a damage report in Queensland or New South Wales.
Lynelle - 07 3236 2955, Abby – 0421 310 626 or Jade - 0437 923 398
Jade Chan, eastAUSmilk Project Manager
EastAUSmilk rocks Finley & Blighty
36 dairy farmers descended on Finley and Blighty last week to visit some very impressive dairy farms. Attendance of 29 Queensland farmers were funded under the Dairy Farmers Technology Uptake Program through Queensland DPI’s ‘Bush Boost Fund’. 7 of the farmers that travelled were from NSW, both from the north and south coast, were funded by eastAUSmilk.
The farmers visited 8 different dairy farms across Finley and Blighty with one situated over the border south of Echuca. The farm systems varied immensely, including pasture, hybrid and a range of TMR systems including free stalls, dry lots and compost barns. The 8 farms varied from a small 200 cow herd, 4 farms were milking just over 1000 cows, one was milking around 2000 cows and one over 3000 cows. There was a lot of technology to see including full robotic milking platforms, rotary dairies, various cow monitoring technologies and robotic sprayers.
We also heard from several speakers at our dinners in Blighty and Finley. We heard from representatives from Garlock about their impressive products including greases, sprays and additives for both fuel and oil. Rob Miller from Milton in NSW spoke about his cheap fit for purpose feed pad and approach to investing in land and minimising expenditure on depreciating assets. Ron McCalman and Tom Kindred from Murray Irrigation Ltd spoke about the local irrigation scheme and their proactive approach to helping farmers best utilise irrigation and Murray Irrigation to build their business. We also had a panel session of hosting dairy farms on the last night.
This was a very worthwhile exercise which the visiting farmers greatly appreciated. It was great to see so many young people attend and a special thanks to the Daley girls and Clewley kids for attending in force and taking in so much on one of their first dairy trips. One of the farms we visited said that this was the most positive and inquisitive group that had ever visited their farm which they really appreciated.
The trip was successful in connecting dairy farmers across the two states of different ages and experiences, where they were able to share thoughts and learnings to bring new ideas back onto their own farms. The trip will be followed up with an online Zoom session to encourage ongoing discussions and further learning.
Eric Danzi - CEO, eastAUSmilk
Cyclone Alfred
The last week has been an interesting one for everyone in southern Queensland and northern NSW. The long, drawn-out threat of cyclone Alfred finally eventuated and was only a tropical low by the time it hit land around Brisbane. However, that did not mean that everyone was spared. Extremely high rainfall and intense winds still occurred in many areas of northern NSW and southern Queensland.
Before cyclone Alfred hit the coast, there were reports of extremely high rainfall in areas of northern NSW including over 600ml in Dorrigo just west of Coffs Harbour. Dorrigo is used to high rainfall but even for them this was a lot. Areas of the gold coast including Jacobs Well were not spared receiving around 600ml. Many other areas received around 400ml of rain including Lismore in NSW and Dayboro just north of Brisbane. The scenic rim, including around Beaudesert, received very high rainfall as well and was impacted very badly.
A lot of people lost power for lengthy periods of time. Winds caused falling trees and extensive damage to infrastructure. Although cyclone Alfred was only a tropical low by the time it hit the coast, it still caused a lot of problems. It will likely be months before the full extent is understood and farmers have fully recovered.
It will be important for government to get a good handle on what happened and assist farmer’s rebuild. We will all need to figure out who was impacted the most and ensure that they receive the support required to rebuild. Just because the media hype has gone away, it doesn’t mean that everything is instantly better for all those people including farmers who were badly impacted. We do not want to see cyclone Alfred causing the end of dairy farmers who were most severely impacted.
Eric Danzi - CEO, eastAUSmilk
Blueprint for Agriculture Forum – Dairy Ready To Go
eastAUSmilk attend the DPI’s Forum to kick-off a process to develop a new 25-year Blueprint for Agriculture, with the objective to increase Qld farm-gate outputs to $30 billion by 2030. This is a welcomed and ambitious goal, but it is definitely a stretch one that will need significant Government support and industry buy-in.
The target signals Government’s understanding that agriculture has more to contribute struggling regional economies and communities, and at a State-wide and national level to increase exports and feed our growing domestic markets.
At the Forum, eastAUSmilk advocated the draft Qld Dairy Plan - that awaits the Minister’s sign-off – as dairy’s contribution to the blueprint by increasing milk production and industry sustainability.
The draft QDP was developed and agreed with input from DPI, processors and dairy farmers, with industry wide agreement on what dairy farmers need to grow and thrive.
After the Forum – where the Minister stressed his priority for industry involvement - we are still concerned that the approval and funding of our draft QDP will get caught up in a protracted bureaucratic process.
Our ask is small in the scheme of the total Qld budget - only $4m over 4 years – but the impact will be substantial and consistent with the theme of the proposed Blueprint.
We understand why the Minister wants all sectors involved in his process to develop the Blueprint, but each sector is different and has its own challenges and solutions. Dairy has already done the hard yards with his Department to identify what is needed – we should not be held back any longer.
eastAUSmilk will continue to advocate this position to the Minister and his Department – so we can get on with the job.
Joe Bradley, President eastAUSmilk
Build knowledge of the dairy industry
Sam & Rachel Nicholson along with their three boys Albert (6), Joey (3) & Wilbur (1) Dairy on the Mid North Coast of NSW, 20 minutes outside of Taree.
Running 220 milkers on a year-round calving with the herd being a Holstein & Jersey with X-bred make up. PMR feeding set up to compliment the pasture that is grown, with a Kikuyu base throughout the Summer and annually planted Ryegrass throughout the Winter, their farm is subject to flooding due to low flood plain location between the Manning River & the Ghinni Ghinni creek.
Sam was fortunate to grow up dairying with his family having a leased dairy close to the farm they have now. His passion for dairying and agriculture being engrained from an early age. With Sam naturally being drawn to agriculture he completed Ag Business Managements at CSU in Orange NSW.
Purchasing the farm they have now in partnership with Sam’s parents, their business has been in growth from infrastructure and machinery with succession transitions occurring along the way.
Sam suggests to anybody that is interested in the industry to enrol in any of the courses that are available, many courses have a small or no fee, start with the basic and build your knowledge sensibly. Feeding calves and relief/casual milking is a terrific way to start in the dairy industry. Building your wealth when the opportunity arises, having your own machinery and building a small herd of cows.
Abby McMillan, NSW Member Services Officer
Better understanding of milk supply options
eastAUSmilk is offering a service to its members regarding gaining a better understanding of milk supply options for its member farmers and particularly for those that are coming to then end of a current milk supply agreement.
The expected benefits of this process are for the eastAUSmilk member to better understand their current milk processor supply options, historical milk flow, volume, components and quality, and how that might impact milk pricing and milk supply options.
All negotiations with milk processors are led by members and must be conducted under the dairy industry code that came into effect on 1st of January 2020. The Milk Supply Agreements offered or that are in place, determine the conditions of supply and contract arrangements are between milk processors and milk suppliers.
If a number of eastAUSmilk members who are located in a similar geographic area and that have similar end dates to their current Milk Supply Agreements wanted to form a collective bargaining group eastAUSmilk can also assist with this process.
A collective bargaining group, refers to an ACCC approved organization formed by dairy farmers coming together to collectively negotiate with milk processors regarding pricing and other terms of sale, essentially giving them greater bargaining power as a united group rather than negotiating individually.
There are some clear advantages and challenges with collective bargaining groups that need to be considered before forming a group, if you are considering a collective bargaining group some research is recommended.
If you are an eastAUSmilk member or considering becoming a member and you’re coming to the end date for your current Milk Supply agreement and would like to have a conversation about understanding your milk flow, including volume components and milk quality and the resulting current milk pricing and or forming a collective bargaining group, please contact Matt Hall 0459 234 720.
Matt Hall, eastAUSmilk Consultant
Full focus on the Finley Farm Tour
In March of this year, a group of Queensland and New South Wales farmers will travel down to Finley in southern New South Wales to tour intensive dairy farms around the region. The trip is part of our Dairy Farmers Technology Uptake Program (DFTUP) supported by the Queensland Government’s by the Bush Boost fund. The program will fully fund 20 spots for Queensland members to travel down to join the Finley Farm Tour. The DFTUP focuses on the training of new technologies leading to better on-farm adoption to improve labour efficiencies, animal welfare, business management and profitability which compliments the program’s grant program and other nation-wide initiatives to get more technology onto farms.
We have been lucky to secure seven different farms to visit in the Finley region and one farm in northern Victoria. There are a wide range of farm systems and technologies attending farmers will see which include freestall and compositing barns, and Arizona dry lot. Farms also have a range of automation on farm including feed management, heat detection and milking systems. There are significant regional and environmental differences when compared to the key dairying regions in Queensland and New South Wales however in some scenarios there are significant similarities where farmers will have the opportunity to learn about the different challenges each hosting farmer has had with their farms and on-farm investments.
After visiting farms across the region, guest speakers from Garlock, Murray Irrigators Limited and a NSW dairy farmer will chat to the group through a series of dinners held during the tour. The final dinner will consist of a panel discussion with the hosting farmers where any last-minute questions and information can be shared. eastAUSmilk are happy to be connecting farmers from North Queensland all the way through to the South Coast of New South Wales on this trip.
Jade Chan - Project Officer, eastAUSmilk
Dairy Farmers Need Support
eastAUSmilk has worked tirelessly with the department, processors and active farmers to finalise a plan for the Qld dairy industry. It will be launched soon and has a range of initiatives for industry productivity, sustainability and growth – but it needs Government buy-in to work.
The plan sets out key priorities for the future to help farmers access new technologies and pastures, improve infrastructure for climate resilience and other strategies to increase productivity and farm gate output.
EAM has asked the Qld Government for support in the next budget, or earlier. Farmers all read the news that the next budget will be tight, but compared with big ticket items like infrastructure, housing, education and health, our asks are very low cost with high impact.
The asks relate to extending the popular and effective technology uptake and farm business resilience programs and resources to support implementing the plan and work on new pasture development.
In total, the ask is only $3 million over 4 years, plus extending and improving access to FBRP – all would agree - a small hand out for a big hand up for dairy.
EAM and our farmers will continue to work with the new Government to deliver this support. We commend the Government’s ambitious commitment to increase total Qld agricultural industry total farm gate output to $30 billion by 2030 – and dairy farmers are ready to go to deliver our share.
Importantly for Queensland, a more productive and sustainable dairy industry delivers in spades for local, regional economies while ensuring Queenslanders can drink more home grown milk.
Denise Spinks, Government Relations Manager eastAUSmilk
Farmgate milk prices must go up
The price of milk paid to farmers plummeted in southern Australia in July 2024. This was in theory due to international dairy prices, but is this in hindsight correct? The clear answer is no.
An extremely effective campaign was run by the ADPF, the processors peak body, last year to drive prices down in southern Australia. At the time, the prices being offered seemed disingenuous and based on misinformation and the desire by processors to recoup profits from farmers. The rhetoric being sprouted by those with a vested interest to drive prices down was that a $2/kg price fall was required to be internationally competitive. We were told that Australian farmers were getting paid much more than NZ farmers and this had to stop.
Well stop it has and now southern Australian farmers are getting paid much less than those in NZ. NZ prices to farmers are currently around $A9/kg which is almost $A1/kg higher than southern Australian farmers are being paid. Current international dairy products, including for whole milk powder, and the extremely low Australian dollar suggest that prices should be at least $10/kg if not substantially higher. Clearly, as was clear at the time and even more obvious in hindsight, milk prices fell way too far in July 2024.
Prices must go up substantially in southern Australia in July 2025 to a price of at least $10/kg. This should have a positive impact on milk prices in NSW and Queensland.
In addition, there must be substantial changes to the dairy code to ensure that the market functions and processors compete for milk. The processor peak body ADPF should be precluded from influencing milk price as clearly occurred last year. Individual processors should not be allowed to send price signals pre 1 June which clearly are heard by farmers, rival processors and the market generally. The role of institutions, with major processor clients, in sending price signals must also be reviewed.
Eric Danzi, CEO eastAUSmilk
Welcome Matt Hall
Matt Hall started recently at eastAUSmilk to assist farmers with milk supply negotiations, implementing the Queensland dairy plan and helping service our members in southern NSW. Matt will be based on the south coast of NSW which will complement our existing staff in Queensland and northern NSW very well.
Matt has a very long history in the dairy industry in a large variety of roles. He was the commercial manager for milk supplies for Norco until October 2024. Previous to this, Matt held a variety of roles in the dairy industry over many decades including working for processors, as a consultant to dairy farmers and also for Dairy Australia. As a result, he has a very good knowledge of farmer and processor issues for northern NSW and southeast Queensland from his Norco days. In addition, Matt has a very good understanding of the landscape for farmers in southern NSW from previous roles.
I have always considered that assisting farmers with milk supply arrangements is a real need for our members. Too often, farmers are on their own when assessing contractual options and ensuring they get a good deal. This was extremely evident to me when I was in the Finley area in June 2024 when a number of farmers were dumped by Riverina Fresh. With Matt, eastAUSmilk has some real expertise to assist farmers as they assess milk supply contracts.
If any members of eastAUSmilk are coming off contract in July 2025 and would like assistance in assessing their options, please reach out to eastAUSmilk ASAP. It is much better for Matt to start preparing early rather than wait until June when it will be too late.
Matt will also oversee the implementation of the Queensland dairy plan. We want the plan to be the catalyst for the industry to move forward together and stop the rot that has happened in Queensland for 25 years. Matts vast experience will have him very well placed to drive this project.
I wish Matt all the best with his role. Please all dairy farmers welcome Matt to the team and make sure you utilise his vast expertise.
Eric Danzi, CEO eastAUSmilk
Welcome Denise Spinks
Denise Spinks started recently at eastAUSmilk to replace Mike Smith as government relations manager. Denise has big shoes to fill, but I’m sure with her background, skills and enthusiasm she will fit in fine. Denise is originally from Roma in Queensland and has an affinity with farming and regional areas.
Denise has a long history focused mostly on either working in senior government positions or lobbying government. This is a similar history to Mike and the skills that we are seeking in our government relations manager.
Denise was deputy chief of staff for former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. In addition, she has worked for lobbying companies to lobby many governments including Queensland, NSW and the commonwealth.
Building on relationships with these 3 governments is extremely important for eastAUSmilk.
Denise is very focussed on clearly identifying what is of most importance to dairy farmers and ensuring she is successful in gaining traction with governments in these key areas. Some key areas for Denise will include gaining support and funding from the Queensland government for the Queensland dairy plan and funding for existing eastAUSmilk projects which are key to moving dairy farmers forward with technology adoption and preparing for extreme weather events.
It is important for eastAUSmilk to further build relationships with the NSW government to ensure that we are listened to and our advice to move the industry forward in NSW are supported. Gaining outcomes from the NSW, Queensland and Commonwealth governments for disaster events will always be an important area for dairy farmers. The review of the dairy code and the implementation of the retail code will also be key issues with the commonwealth government.
I wish Denise all the best with her role. Please all dairy farmers welcome her to the team and assist in her role to help you.
Eric Danzi, CEO eastAUSmilk
Dairy Plan Finished - Gone to Government
The Dairy Industry Plan for Queensland has been completed, and eastAUSmilk is now asking Government and industry participants to commit to implementation.
eastAUSmilk expects to meet with the Minister’s advisors and Department of Primary Industries, from early in January, urging that resourcing and implementation get underway as soon as possible.
Driven by concerns about the decline in milk production across the state, the plan is the culmination of extensive consultation – farmer district meetings across Queensland, one-on-one meetings, online feedback options, and individuals emailed their analyses, views, and suggestions.
The plan’s focus is reversing the decline in production, and building the economic viability of dairy farming across Queensland, and identifies four broad priority areas which can make a difference:
financing the future – how we enable capital inflows to the farming section,
pathways into the industry – how we get new participants to operate farms,
risk mitigation for stable production – how we manage climate variability and other risks in a changing world, and
productivity improvement – how can we get the same, or more, milk for less inputs.
The plan identifies fifteen action items which are best placed to provide responses to those priorities, with five of the 15 prioritised for immediate action
Improved support and more accessible information, including legal options, for industry entry and exit,
Comprehensive climate and natural disaster program for dairying e.g. infrastructure to mitigate heat stress, mitigate feed issues in the wet, on farm sustainability, renewables,
Identification of barriers and solutions to expand feedstock options, including imported strains, for pest and disease management, and further understand the barriers for the use of GMO feedstock options, and explore potential solutions,
Support and facilitate on-farm uptake of changed practice, including new automation, technology and production systems, and
Improving the productivity, and management, of pastures.
The action items not in the top five are to be addressed, as resources and time permit.
Implementation of the plan is to be managed by an industry led group including eastAUSmilk, processors, Government, and SubTropical Dairy.
Mike Smith
Farewell Mike Smith
Mike Smith has been with eastAUSmilk for almost 2 years as government relations manager. This is Mike’s second coming to the dairy industry after previously working as a consultant for QDO. Mike finishes with us in December.
I have known Mike for around 24 years and his professionalism, thoroughness and proactive approach have always impressed me. Mike has impressed many including our board with the way he has immersed himself in the dairy industry. He has demonstrated a real passion for the industry and dairy farmers specifically which has endeared himself to many.
Mike has been invaluable in opening doors in government in Queensland, NSW and Canberra, and has clearly demonstrated a desire to help dairy farmers and ensure their welfare was looked after. Most importantly, Mike was able to achieve key outcomes for eastAUSmilk in a variety of areas including securing funding for eastAUSmilk and the Queensland dairy plan. Also, Mike was able to help our farmers directly with lobbying into both the Queensland and NSW governments in a range of areas, including related to natural disasters.
Mike has been central to pulling together the Queensland dairy plan. His has not been an easy task given the divergent views in the industry. During this process, many have been impressed by Mike’s thoroughness, processes and work ethic to ensure the task is completed before he leaves.
Mike has also been invaluable in assisting with many governance and management issues within eastAUSmilk. I certainly appreciated having someone to help in these areas especially when Mike often had significantly more expertise than I in some areas.
It is sad to see you move on Mike and your expertise and enthusiasm will be missed. Thanks for all your help. I expect you to keep an eye on the dairy industry even after you leave.
Eric Danzi
CEO eastAUSmilk
ADF elections provide clear mandate for change
At Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) AGM, existing board members Heath Cook, Ben Bennett and David Beca were all re-elected to the ADF board. This is a good result for NSW and Queensland dairy farmers that eastAUSmilk represents. Also, it would have been a mockery if there were no Victorian dairy farmer on the ADF board given that over 60% of Australia’s milk comes from Victoria.
It is a win for all dairy farmers in Australia who want change in the industry. For too long, the industry has been held back by people and organisations who want to keep the industry the same. It is now well beyond time for ADF to lead the industry forward and the excuses must stop.
There are a few issues in the industry that must be fixed by ADF in the next few years. These will only be fixed by strategic, clear and forceful leadership by ADF. Being nice has failed ADF for many years and has led to ADF being largely ignored by other stakeholders within and outside the industry.
Massive change is required in our RD&E sector. We must see the significant RD&E resources available used effectively on priority issues to drive profitability for farmers. We need to see a focus on regional solutions and programs which drive profitability not a centralised model which is doomed to fail farmers. The current DA plan is even greater centralisation, and this is a disaster. Also, we cannot allow processors to continue to be equal partners with ADF to oversee RD&E unless they contribute equal funding.
Another priority for ADF is ensuring integrity in price setting. It was disgraceful to see prices in southern Australia plummet in July this year to levels well below what economics could justify. Prices around $8/kg were not justifiable and showed the power of processors and ADPF to dictate prices. This compares to an announcement by Fonterra last week for a price of $NZ9.50-10.50 which is over $A1/kg more than what Australian farmers are receiving. This plummeting of milk price has made a complete mockery of the dairy code and highlights the massive problems in competition policy.
Eric Danzi, CEO eastAUSmilk
Dairy Farmers And Government
This was the year governments in multiple jurisdictions confronted the power of the big supermarkets and have begun to make change focussed on supermarket relationships with their suppliers, and with consumers. The importance for dairy farmers is that better relations between supermarkets and processors will mean a fairer shake for farmers, so eastAUSmilk made substantive submissions to the various inquiries. In many cases, we had to say what processors dared not.
Now, we’re starting to see outcomes from those inquires, including a mandatory food and grocery code, containing strong provisions against supermarket bullying.
The Dairy Industry Code review has commenced, with Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry releasing a discussion paper and establishing working groups. eastAUSmilk is looking for many changes small and large, while Australian Dairy Products Federation are advocating to effectively eliminate the benefits of the code.
Instability in governments has seen delays in many processes and responses – leadership of Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries has changed several times, and there’s a new Minister post-Queensland election. There’s a new Minister in the Commonwealth as well, with Julie Collins replacing Murray Watt as Agriculture Minister, and Jenny McAllister taking responsibility for Emergency Management. eastAUSmilk has of course implemented a program of active involvement with the Ministers and their respective agencies.
We’ve been advocating to Commonwealth Ministers that they implement the recommendations of the November 2023 Food Security Report, which recommended a plan for stabilising and increasing Australia’s milk pool.
Weather disasters impacting members on the NSW South Coast has brought to light flaws in Australia’s national disaster assistance framework – multiple small events with a cumulative impact equal to or greater than a major disaster do not get equivalent or appropriate assistance, and we have begun to press the Commonwealth to modify disaster arrangements to reflect changes in the pattern of disasters.
With the assistance of Queensland Farmers Federation, eastAUSmilk was provided with a $450,000 Queensland government grant to facilitate technology uptake, and a further $50,000 grant is facilitating development of a dairy plan for Queensland. Funding for facilitating uptake of Farm Business Resilience Planning has been extended for a year, and we are seeking that it be made permanent.
eastAUSmilk has engaged with both the previous and current Queensland government to ensure their support for the Queensland dairy plan, as it has been developed.
Mike Smith, eastAUSmilk
Dairying meets new Minister
eastAUSmilk’s President Joe Bradley and Government Relations Manager Mike Smith had an upbeat meeting with the new Queensland Minister for Primary Industries Tony Perrett last week.
We had taken care to keep him in the loop on major issues for the Queensland dairy industry through 2024 while he was Shadow Minister, and to build a positive working relationship with him and his Chief of Staff.
The new Minister was keen to hear about the status of the Queensland dairy plan (a draft almost ready to go out to the industry for final consultation) and other issues of concern to dairy farmers.
One thing noted by all of us is the consistency between the new government’s agriculture policy and the draft dairy plan – there’s major overlap, including the government commitment to harnessing emerging technologies, exploring new and innovative ways to improve on farm productivity and profitability, investment in industry-led best management practice programs, and growing Queensland’s farm output.
In addition to their agriculture policy commitments, the new Premier has written to Tony, advising that the Minister is expected to ensure the long-term future of traditional primary industries – which of course eastAUSmilk noted to the Minister includes the dairy industry.
Minister Perrett has been to many dairy farms as a beef farmer, local government councillor, Member of Parliament for Gympie, and Shadow Minister, but we invited him to visit a dairy farm as our guest for a briefing about farm issues, in his new Ministerial capacity. He’ll take us up on the offer once we all get past Christmas.
Tony has spent his entire time in Parliament since 2015 in Opposition, and not only has to get used to being much better able to get things done, he’s part of a government which committed to a very hectic “first 100 days” agenda.
There are no primary industry promises in that list, but as a Minister he still has to scrutinise all of the implementation proposals as they are developed.
Joe Bradley eastAUSmilk President
Building drought resilience on the Atherton Tablelands
eastAUSmilk’s project team has been delivering the Farm Business Resilience Program assisting dairy farmers across Queensland develop business plans to improve drought resilience.
Late in 2021, Bill Hamilton, a dairy farmer located in Ravenshoe, North Queensland started developing his business plan identifying increased labour demands, water and feed security as his main farm risk during a drought. Bill runs a certified biodynamic dairy farm milking on average 110 Brown Swiss and Jersey cows across 334 acres with an annual production of 500,000L.
The development of a business resilience plan identified a priority list to improve overall farm preparedness and resilience. In the case of a drought, feed and water security was highlighted as a priority area for Bill. The focus for his business was to increase his total irrigatable area on farm by expanding his current solid set from 20 acres to 50 acres.
Investing into additional sprinklers has increased feed security on farm. Solid set has high water use efficiency where water is evenly distributed across the paddock improving pasture yields and consistency throughout the paddock.
Bill was successful in obtaining a 25% grant for the project cost through the Drought Preparedness Grant (DPG). The irrigation has been utilised over their dry season to maintain pasture production for the milking herd. On average, milk production sits at 14L/cow/d and with the irrigation he has been able to maintain this level of production without the need to supplement fodder.
His next steps are to expand the hay shed on the dairy block from 40 bale to a 120 bale capacity to improve feed security and labour demands during a drought, also partially funded by the DPG. Extra shed capacity will allow Bill to feed bank fodder in preparation for a drought and minimise the risk of spoilage from the humidity and rainfall commonly found in the region.
The farm business resilience program provides great benefits for Queensland dairy farmers - contact Jade for help to access it.
Jade Chan – eastAUSmilk Project Officer
It is time to vote in the ADF elections
The Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) AGM is being held on 28 November 2024. NSW dairy farmer Heath Cook, Victorian dairy farmer Ben Bennett and independent director David Beca are all re standing for the ADF board. Tasmanian dairy farmer Andrew Aldridge is also standing for election.
Heath, Ben and David have been supportive of eastAUSmilk and our members. They were all central in approving our members from NSW as members of ADF. You would think it would be important for our national dairy farmer body to have as many dairy farmer members as possible. Consequently, any dairy farmers who apply for ADF membership who are legally able to be accepted would be. However, there are many dairy farmer representatives from NSW, SA and Tasmania who have actively campaigned to try and reverse the decision to allow eastAUSmilk members in NSW to be members of ADF.
ADF has a long way to go to be effective in addressing the problems that exist in the dairy industry. The ADF board is just starting the journey to fix the problems in the dairy industry and we would expect much greater outcomes in the next year. For this to occur, ADF needs a strong and proactive board ready to lead the industry in the difficult times.
I believe that Heath, Ben and David are best placed to lead the industry forward. I believe they all genuinely have the interests of all dairy farmers at heart and will fight for what is best for dairy farmers. Unfortunately, there are many in the dairy industry who are meant to look after the interests of dairy farmers but they clearly do not.
Please vote for Heath, Ben and David at the ADF election. Alternatively, please give your proxy to myself or my vice president Tim Bale from NSW to ensure your voice is heard.
Joe Bradley, eastAUSmilk President
Dairy Competitiveness Project Workshop in Toowoomba
At the Dairy Symposium held in Melbourne in March 2024 a cross section of participants from all dairy supply chains come together to discuss ‘all things dairy’.
From this symposium, the government decided to design and facilitate a series of regional industry workshops in all states, to ask for recommendations to enhance the Australian dairy industry’s productivity and competitiveness.
The Queensland regional workshop, convened by Dairy Australia was held in Toowoomba on 5 November and was designed to explore the drivers of competitiveness and productivity for dairy, focussing on the trends and issues most relevant to the Queensland dairy industry.
Participants from across the dairy industry were invited to attend the workshop and represent, operate and/or manage key segments along the dairy supply chain.
The workshop aimed to:
Explore the drivers of productivity and industry competitiveness
Discuss the regional dynamics impacting competitiveness
Inform how industry and government can collaborate to enhance the dairy industry's competitive position for the region and nationally
A pre-workshop pack was circulated prior to the workshop, which provided background information to participants and key themes to be considered. A survey was undertaken pre workshop and both farmers and industry representatives have given feedback. Many of the issues raised in Queensland have been flagged in other states.
The pre-workshop survey showed that farmers:
Are dependent on the local fresh milk market
Believe there is a lack of regional focused and delivered RDE
Don’t believe there is sufficient training or education
Are exposed to milk movement from other states and demand dynamics
The local value proposition is not valued or communicated
More input from discussions relating to key issues raised by the group at the Toowoomba workshop will be gathered. A report will be written for the Commonwealth Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on how to improve productivity and competitiveness in the dairy industry.
Lynelle Rogers, eastausmilk
Queensland’s Election and Dairy Farmers
eastAUSmilk congratulates David Crisafulli on his election as the 41st Premier of Queensland – the first LNP Premier since 2015.
The biggest issue in Queensland for eastAUSmilk is reversing the decline of milk production across the State. For that reason, we’ve made sure we’ve kept the previous LNP Opposition up-to-date on where we’re going with development of the dairy industry plan, both Shadow Agriculture Minister Tony Perrett, and the Opposition leader’s office. Now they’re in Government, we’ve already requested meetings so we can give the new Agriculture Minister and the new Premier’s office an update.
The new Cabinet hasn’t been announced yet, but we’re expecting Tony Perrett will be Agriculture Minister, or in an equally influential and senior portfolio – we know he understands what the dairy industry needs, and that the new Agriculture Minister will be presented very soon with a plan for the industry’s future.
Based on our discussions this year as the plan has been developing, we’re very confident eastAUSmilk and the dairy industry will get a good hearing and some positive results from the new Minister. We’re also working closely with Department of Agriculture and Fisheries on the dairy plan, so they’re ready to give the new Minister advice about the plan’s importance and content as soon as it is needed.
Arising from feedback from dairy farmers, processors and others in the industry during October, the Advisory Group drafting the plan, led by eastAUSmilk, is rapidly moving towards having a final draft plan ready.
There’s a big difference between the way Brisbane voted and the rest of the state, but the many regional seats switching to the LNP guarantee a very solid voice for Queensland’s regions, and agriculture in particular, in the Crisafulli government. The new Premier comes from a canegrower family, and several of those Members of Parliament likely to be in the Crisafulli Cabinet have a solid agricultural background.
Mike Smith, eastAUSmilk Government Relations Manager