Dairy Plan Consultation Closing Soon
EastAUSmilk has been out and about talking with industry stakeholders about proposals to be included in Queensland’s first ever Dairy Plan. These proposals can be downloaded from the eastAUSmilk website.
One on one meetings have been held with some stakeholders such as processors, and more are to come.
District meetings have been held in Malanda, Milla Milla, Oakey, Woodford, and Kandanga, with the final meeting scheduled for Monday 14 October at Beaudesert RSL, at 6.30pm.
Anyone who wants to provide feedback and hasn’t been able to get to any of these meetings – e.g. dairy farmers around Rockhampton – can find a link on the eastAUSmilk website for online feedback. They can also send eastAUSmilk an email to be connected to a Zoom hookup.
The Zoom hookup will be at 6.30pm on Tuesday 15 October, but anyone who wants to participate must email eastAUSmilk in advance so they can be sent an invitation.
Feedback so far has been quite varied, ranging from the suggestion that there’s not enough incentives in the proposal for uptake by some farmers, to strong support. Many dairy farmers have said some of the proposals need more detail before they are strong enough.
Many of the proposals in the plan will require support from the Queensland government, and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, the current Minister Mark Furner, and the Shadow Minister Tony Perrett have been kept thoroughly in the loop and given every opportunity to advise of any problems with the draft proposals.
For much of this year, an Advisory Group consisting of eastAUSmilk (leading the project), Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Bega, Norco, Lactalis, DFMC, and SubTropical Dairy have been working to identify proposals to:
• grow the milk pool,
• build the economic viability of dairy farming,
• facilitate uptake of productivity and efficiency improvements, and
• build industry and community confidence in the future of the industry.
The Advisory Group proposes that the plan aim at a prosperous, vibrant, and resilient Queensland dairy industry, which has halted the decline in milk production, and is growing to produce at least 300 million litres or more of white milk per year, with flatter supply, by 2032.
Once this final round of consultation is finished, the Advisory Group will consider how best to reflect that feedback in the plan, work out some more details of how the various proposals can best be implemented, and produce a final plan. The plan will lay out some of the first steps for implementing it, as well as for monitoring and managing implementation.
Mike Smith, eastAUSmilk Government Relations Manager
Powering towards a Queensland Dairy Plan
The first round of district meetings has been completed on the path to developing Queensland’s Dairy Plan. As well, online input has been opened, and one on one meetings with key stakeholders (like processors, SubTropical Dairy, and more) are well underway.
EastAUSmilk members and others have already shown plenty of interest, with around 120 people attending the various meetings.
Queensland needs an effective dairy industry plan to make sure Queenslanders can drink fresh local milk into the future, that farmers run profitable businesses, and their communities remain vibrant.
Right now, that’s not where we are. We have the smallest average dairy herd size of all states, our farms produce just 45% of the milk Queenslanders consume, we’ve got only 40% of the farms we had in 2011, and too many farmers are struggling to make a decent income.
EastAUSmilk, the three largest milk processors (Lactalis, Norco and Bega), Dairy Farmers Milk Co‑operative, SubTropical Dairy, and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, make up the Advisory Group steering development of the Plan. They all want to bring the industry together to lift production, increase farmgate profitability and drive efficiencies throughout the supply chain.
With the input from those meetings and online proposals, the Advisory Group will shortly begin drawing out the big themes and big ideas, coming up with the priorities, and drafting the plan. It is expected to cover ways to address that decline, how to make farmer and processor investment and planning decisions easier, actions to build the economic viability of dairy farming and processing and building confidence in the future of the industry.
Once there is a draft Plan, there will be a further round of consultation, including district meetings, to explain what’s in it and why, and get proposals for further change.
The final plan, or a very well-developed draft, is expected by late August. That’s an ambitious timeframe, but we think we can make it happen.
There’s more information about the plan and the process of developing it, on the eastAUSmilk website.
Mike Smith, eastAUSmilk Government Relations Manager
Queensland Dairying – Profitable and Growing – Industry Voice Needed
Everyone in the Queensland dairy industry is invited to meetings across the state, for input into the proposed Queensland Dairy Plan.
These meetings will be very important in identifying what will be in Queensland’s Dairy Plan.
• Malanda Pub Monday 24 June 6.30 PM
• Maleny Hotel Tuesday 25 June 10.30 AM (note the changed time!)
• Millaa Millaa Pub Tuesday 25 June 6.30 PM
• Oakey RSL Tuesday 25 June 6.30 PM
• Warwick RSL Wednesday 26 June 6.30 PM
• Beaudesert RSL Monday 1 July 6.30 PM
eastAUSmilk is leading development of the Plan, along with the State Government, SubTropical Dairy, Bega, Lactalis, DFMC, and Norco, and these are all members of the project’s advisory group, providing oversight of the plan’s development.
The Plan will be aimed at growing the milk pool in Queensland, building the economic viability of dairy farming and processing across Queensland, facilitating productivity and efficiency improvements, and building confidence in the future of the dairy industry in Queensland.
It will not only identify the major barriers to reducing costs, increasing productivity and profit, and growing the hectares devoted to dairying, but also find ways to sustain improvements in each those areas, which are practical and will be supported by dairy farmers and other stakeholders.
Farmers, processors and others in the industry need to speak up now. This is a big opportunity to ensure a bright future for the Queensland dairy industry, which mustn’t be missed.
If anyone can’t make it to one of the district meetings, they will be asked for input online, shortly, too. If anyone can’t make it to their most local meeting, they should feel free to go to another.
Because the whole industry is being consulted, farmers, processors and others who aren’t members of eastAUSmilk or Australian Dairy Products Federation are welcome. Separate meetings with processors, researchers, and others, will be scheduled, in the near future.
Mike Smith, EastAUSmilk Government Relations Manager