Dairy Code Review – Farmers Urged To Make Submissions

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has announced commencement of preliminary consultation on the coming review of the Dairy Industry Code, and eastAUSmilk is urging dairy farmers to make a submission before the 15 March deadline.

Information about the consultation process can be found here https://haveyoursay.agriculture.gov.au/industry-comments-on-the-operation-of-the-dairy-industry-code.  You can download a discussion paper, and 8 focussed questions, from that web page.

eastAUSmilk has warned farmers this is a narrow consultation, focussing on eight issues of concern raised in the first (2021/22) review of the code by DAFF, and not all of their concerns can be addressed this time around. Those eight issues are reflected in both of the downloadable documents.

While many dairy farmer concerns can be raised in the context of these eight questions, not all can be. eastAUSmilk’s submission will make clear that consideration of a narrow range of issues, based on feedback in 2021, is not a good enough review of the code a further three years down the track.

eastAUSmilk is concerned that, somehow, DAFF came away from the 2021/22 review claiming everything was generally satisfactory with the code, and seem to have been unaware of the many and widespread concerns of eastAUSmilk members. Certainly, since that review, many other concerns have been raised with eastAUSmilk by members.

Included on the list of issues to be raised are the need to make suppliers a secured creditor, control or prohibition of milk swaps by processors which are used to undercut pricing, minimum price for later years needs to be at least the year one price, further barriers to processor collusion, final contract terms rather than initial terms need to be made public.

Individual dairy farmers are urged by eastAUSmilk to have their say via the above feedback page, and also to let eastAUSmilk know what concerns have been raised.  Anyone making an online submission will be emailed a copy of their submission, and that can be forwarded to Mike@eastAUSmilk.org.au.

Mike Smith, eastAUSmilk government relations manager